


The Magic Between Them

by 1MARVELlousWriter



Category: Doctor Strange (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, First Kiss, First Meetings, Kidnapping, Romantic Soulmates, Shapeshifting, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:40:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 20,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29702793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1MARVELlousWriter/pseuds/1MARVELlousWriter
Summary: [Doctor Strange x Female!reader]You were found on the doorstep of Kamar-Taj, and raised in the temple as if you were the Ancient One’s own child. When you turned sixteen, you got your soulmark, and started searching for your soulmate. Then, when everything seems to go wrong, something goes right. You were broken that night, the night he left you staring after him with a crushed soul and a crippled heart that was sure to never love again.But then your mother sent you to New York Hospital with a mission: Get information on Doctor Stephen Strange. He too had been looking for you, not that he knew it. You came to find out that you could love, but again, he broke your heart. You decided to leave, and this time, drop off the radar forever. However, Stephen’s whole world came crashing down around him when he found you again.When old enemies and new ones kidnap you, Stephen goes out of his mind with worry. After getting you back, he vows to never let you go.But when both HYDRA and Karl Mordo are on your tail, how will he ever keep that vow?
Relationships: Stephen Strange & Reader, Stephen Strange/Reader
Comments: 5
Kudos: 29





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So this was on my Wattpad account (with the same name, I also have a Fanfiction and Tumblr account (again, same names), but they have literally nothing on them), and I wanted to bring it here. I don't really know why, but... Yeah. Anyway, I'm used to that style of writing, although I have been on AO3 for a while now, just reading and leaving kudos. I want to get used to this style of writing as well, and maybe move from Wattpad to here, because I literally have so many ideas. 
> 
> My next idea, I want a co-creator, which will be discussed after I finish posting this fic here. Also, I like to think I'm a fast reader, and I'm also kind of a perfectionist, so I can beta for anyone who wants me to. Literally, any fandom, although the ones I'm most into is MARVEL, Star Wars, and Sherlock (TV).
> 
> Anyway, enjoy my first fic on this site.

A ring sounded out in the temple of Kamar-Taj.

“Who would be here at this time of night?” The woman asked herself. She slowly maneuvered through the empty rooms, bare feet padding noiselessly on the tile, yellow robes flowing out behind, making her way to the door that faced the streets.

She opened the door with a scowl upon her face, but there was nobody there. Her features quickly turned from anger to suspicion. She looked around, until she spied a small gray bundle of blankets, holding a baby, on her doorstep. It didn’t look to be more than a few weeks old. The woman frowned, and carefully picked the silent child up, keeping an eye peeled for anything out of the ordinary.

She stepped back inside the temple as a man in similar robes to hers walked up to her. “What are you doing up, Ancient One?” He asked her.

“Someone put this child upon our doorstep. No note, no reason.” She replied, perplexed. She shrugged, and handed it to the man, who took it willingly, knowing not to question the ways of the Sorceress Supreme. He followed her silently as she walked to a room that had three doors, each leading to a different part of the world, and also where a very powerful relic almost always resided.

The Ancient One picked up the Eye of Agamotto and hung it around her neck. She closed her eyes and focused, opening the Eye with a few short, sharp movements of her hands and fingers. She took a glance into the little girl’s possible futures, trying to find out if it would be beneficial or harmful if she were to raise it.

The man continued to hold the small, silent child, unsure of what she wanted to do with it. After a few moments, she opened her eyes and the Eye of Agamotto closed itself as she lowered her arms. She removed the relic from around her neck and placed it back upon the pedestal.

The Ancient One then nodded to the other sorcerer, and took the bundle of blankets and skin from his grasp. “You would do well to forget that this ever happened.” She said. He nodded, and turned to walk away. To be sure, she cast a spell on his mind that erased everything pertaining to the small child in her arms.

She walked towards her room, taking care not to bump into anyone else on the way. She stepped through the door, and turned to the wall full of bookshelves. Books decorated almost every surface in her room, but her shelves were overflowing. Most books were in foreign languages, such as Chinese, Sanskrit, even some in Russian and German. She moved towards the left-most shelf, and grabbed a book, tugging on it slightly. Something inside the shelf clicked, and it slid silently behind the bookcase to the right, revealing a staircase spiraling down into the darkness.

She shifted the small bundle in her arms, making sure it wasn’t going to slip out of them as she quietly walked down the stairs to the bottom. Along the way, just when it was getting dark enough not to see, another light flickered on, torch flared, or other magical version of light came on in front of her, whatever you want to think of.

She stepped into the corridor that was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, and padded silently into a large room, so immense that it could have once been used as a grand ballroom. The Ancient One looked around the room, eventually deciding that it was large enough for her purposes. Finally, she managed to make it comfortable, with a bed, sofa, books, and other mundane everyday things.

She only ever once saw the heritage of the little girl. An Asgardian for a father, a very powerful one at that, and a Midgardian for a mother. But sadly, the mother was dead.   
Over four years, the Ancient One came to the same room every night, waiting for the little child to show any sign of waking up from the deep coma it seemed to be in. It grew slowly, even though it never ate nor drank.

One day, she found the small child awake, staring at her. The child had (h/c) hair and (e/c) eyes.

“Hello little one. Can you understand me?” The Ancient One smiled and spoke softly, so as not to startle the small girl. The girl nodded her head yes.

“Good. Can you talk?” The little girl shook her head no. “Alright then, I guess I'll just have to teach you.” She sat down, cross-legged in front of the girl, beckoning her to come closer. She rapidly crawled over to the bald woman, trusting her implicitly already.

She climbed into the older woman's lap, and stared up at the smiling face of the Ancient One.

“Now, A is for…” She looked at the opposite wall, seeming to think for a moment, then her face lit up. She quickly made some motions with her hands, and orange crackling magic followed through the air. She finished her creation, and it showed a picture of a shimmering palace, with a rainbow bridge crossing what seemed to be an ocean that fell into an abyss of darkness. The girl looked at the picture and reached a hand out, trying to touch it. The Ancient One smiled at her innocence. Inside, however, she wondered if the girl remembered her birth place.

As the picture faded away, she repeated her sentence once more, this time softer.

“A is for Asgard.”


	2. Things of Importance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Literally things of importance that I could've just listed out (except for the last bit), but I decided to let everything have it's own place in the story and actually make a whole chapter out of it.

**_(Time Skip, about 10 years later)_ **

“When do I get my relic?” You, now ten years old, asked your caretaker.

“When you're ready.” Mother smiled at you. “Now, show me what else you can do, (Y/N).” You quickly made movements with your body, and spells flew out at an alarming rate. 

“I think I'm ready.” You said. The older woman smirked at you, thinking of when someone else will say that. She decided to give you the same answer the person in the future will get. 

“You’re ready when the relic decides you’re ready. But for now, it doesn't matter. Now, come with me. I have something I want to show you. Something I've never shown anyone else.” The woman who was like a mother to you said. 

You quietly finished up, and walked together towards Mother's room. 

“So what did you want to show me?” You asked. You both walked into the room, and sat down on the bed together. 

“This.” Mother pulled up her sleeve to show you a faded mark, seemingly what used to be something like a giant purple creature. You cocked your head. 

“No offense, but you cut my training short and brought me here to show me your old tattoo that needs to be redone?” 

Mother chuckled and shook her head. “No, it isn’t a tattoo. It’s a soulmark. Something you’ll be getting soon.” 

“So I’m going to get one of these?” 

“On a person’s sixteenth birthday, they either will or will not get a soulmark. All that means is that there is a person out there who will complete them on the most basic of levels. Soulmarks are usually a representation of the soulmate on skin. The reason why mine faded is because he passed, long ago.” She looked up from her soulmark to see your downcast face. She smiled and raised her hand to tilt your face up. “Before I ever found you.” You smiled back at your mentor. “However, there is a downside to having a soulmate. If they are in extreme pain, you will feel it too. And because of something called ‘Soulmate Sickness’. It’s when-”

“When you get sick of your soulmate?” You interrupted, a smirk on your face. 

She gave a small chuckle, but continued. “Not exactly. It’s when you meet your soulmate, but don’t have any physical contact. After so long without your soulmate’s touch, you become physically ill. Until you make skin contact with your soulmate, you will get more and more sick until you can’t go on. The worst cases have ended in death. But this only impacts the people who have soulmates and have made contact beforehand. So if you never meet your soulmate, which sometimes can happen, you won’t suffer from the Sickness. Alternatively, if your soulmate happens to pass before you, like mine, you won’t feel the Sickness anymore. You will feel the pain of their last moments, and never have another soulmate. Your ‘tattoo’, as you called it, will start to fade.” 

“That… is a lot of information to take in right now.” You said. 

“Well, you _are_ only ten. You have six more years until the universe decides you’re ready for a soulmate.” 

“How do you know I’ll have one?” Mother opened her mouth to speak, but you cut her off. “The Eye, right. You can see into the future and all that stuff.” 

**_(Time Skip, about 7 years later)_ **

You were now officially seventeen years old, and your soulmark had painted itself upon you, just like Mother said it would. Green filigree with runes intermixed wrapped around your hands, up your arms, over your shoulders, and connected both on the front and back of your neck. On the back, it swirled around until it connected in an elegant, intricate knot. On the front, it almost did the same, only it left an empty space right where the knot would be in the dip between your collar bones, and instead circled around that small area. 

You ran silently to the library, and softly put your books down upon the desk once you got there. 

“You really read all of these?” The current librarian asked in disbelief. She was an older woman, about 60, who may have been getting along in years, but could still tango with the best of the sorcerers if she wanted, even if she had no magic herself. 

“Really Ms. Carter? You should know me by now. I burn through these books faster than you can give them to me.” You smirked at the older woman, ready for more books. 

“(Y/N), how many times do I have to tell you? Call me Peggy. Or if you want to get really formal, Margaret will do.” Peggy Carter told you. You were always formal, even if the two of you had known each other for years. 

“But I don’t want to call you Margaret because it just doesn’t fit your personality.” Your head perked up as an excuse came to you. “What organization did you work as an agent for again?” Every time you came in, you would make up a reason to either stay longer than you should, or just pretend to forget a detail that the former agent had gone over many times before, just to hear about Peggy’s old ‘war stories’, as you called them. 

“It’s called SHIELD.” Peggy walked over to the master’s section, and started putting books away. Because you were practically the Ancient One’s daughter, you were allowed to take books out of the library. Of course the Sorceress Supreme would play favorites. She was only human, after all. 

“Hey Kaecilius!” You waved to the pale-skinned 22 year old. He glanced up from the book he was reading to blush and wave shyly back at you, then continue with his reading. 

“You know, he’s pretty cute…” Peggy said in a low tone, elbowing you slightly with a sly wink. You blushed and wrapped your arms around your own waist, as though you were giving yourself a hug. 

“I don’t know, it’s just…” The former agent nodded, encouraging you to speak. You straightened up. “My soulmate is out there somewhere, and I know it isn’t Kaecilius. I don’t know what to do, because I may not ever meet him, but I don’t just want to settle either.” You said in a rush, your head drooping. 

“As someone who heard her soulmate… take his last breath…” Peggy scratched her shoulder, where her faded soulmark peeked from beneath her shirt. “I think you’re too young to worry about this right now. You’re only seventeen, and you’ll have plenty of time to find your soulmate. However, I do believe that while you should wait for your soulmate, you will never know how long you’ll have with him. Unless you use the Eye, of course, but I’m thinking without help from relics and magic.” She winked at you, and continued putting books away. 

Peggy put her hands on her hips. “Now where is that boy?” As soon as she said it, an asian student, who happened to be one of your best friends, burst through the doors. He was about your age, if not a year or two older. 

“Sorry, Ms. Carter. I got caught up in trying to practice with my sling ring. I didn’t realize the time.” He rubbed the back of his neck. 

Peggy smiled warmly at him. “It’s quite alright, Wong. I won’t get mad if you were just practicing your studies.” 

“Key word there, _trying_.” Wong mumbled under his breath. 

Another student walked into the library as you and Wong were putting books away for Peggy, while the woman herself was sitting on a chair nearby, resting her bones. Both of you put the correct books on the correct shelves, knowing the library like the backs of your hands, you from wandering the shelves for years, and him from studying the shelves themselves, familiarizing himself with the place he knows he’s going to remain in for his life. 

“Hey, Karl.” Wong called out to his friend, happy to see him in the library for once. You only nodded your head in greeting. 

“Could I have a book or two on astral projection?” Karl Mordo looked sheepishly at the ground. 

“Are you sure you’re ready for that? I mean, you’ve only been here for a year.” Peggy replied. 

“(Y/N) can astral project! Why can’t I?” Karl Mordo objected. 

“Because she’s been here since she was basically born, and she’s been training since she was, like, four years old.” Kaecilius’s voice made you all jump. No one saw him get up to put his book back. In fact, the other two boys didn’t know he was there at all. 

“That’s true. She’s had years to train. You haven’t.” Peggy stood up from her chair, and walked over to you guys. “Anyway, you kids better scram, I think I hear someone coming.” With a wink to you, she turns and walks around the next shelf, effectively disappearing into the maze called a library. 

**_(Time Skip, about 4 years later)_ **

Finally, at twenty-one, you got your relic. Made to look like a simple black band, the relic was called _The Armlet of Concealment._ It was a band that was meant to be worn around the upper arm, and could easily hide and reveal things. For example, if you wanted to hide an important paper from someone but you were captured (by said person), you could “shift” the paper into the band. The paper would then disappear, and a small charm exactly like it would appear on the band, for nobody but yourself to see. You can hide as many things as you want at once, and it would never hinder your other abilities or magic. 

Over the years, you and Kaecilius have only grown closer to each other. One could say you two were… unusually close. 

**_(Time Skip, about 15 years later)_ **

“Come with me, (Y/N)! We can be together forever with the help of Dormammu! Isn’t that what you want?” Kaecilius held out his hand to you as his other followers were stringing up the current librarian. Peggy Carter had retired years ago, and at the time, you wished she didn’t, but now you couldn’t help but be relieved. 

“But you heard the Ancient One! Dormammu is the root of almost all evil in the multiverse.” You replied, wrapping your arms around yourself in a defensive position. His hand faltered, and dropped back to his side. You knew Mother used the dark dimension to help keep balance and order, and understood why, but this… this is just wrong. Contacting Dormammu to grant eternal life, just to help him take over an unsuspecting planet? Well, _mostly_ unsuspecting. 

Kaecilius’s face twisted from pleading to disappointment in a split second. “I see… you never loved me. You just wanted a broken toy to fix, just like _her_.” He sneered at you while taking a jab at Mother. He made a spear out of unfamiliar clear, transparent energy and poised it against the neck of the librarian, ready to kill him. 

“Don’t!” You cried, suddenly wishing it was you they were going to kill, not the innocent librarian. They were only there because of you in the first place, anyway. Years ago, you had told him that Mother let you read any book you wanted, including the _Book of Cagliostro_. He dared you to take it and read it to him, because you were the only one allowed to take the books out of the library, and if he was caught with it… 

But you said no. One of the few times in the history of you two being together, you put your foot down, saying _“There are forbidden rituals in there! I don’t want to contact or release Dormammu, or mess with the Eye of Agamotto unintentionally! I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to say no.”_ Kaecilius must have kept this information tucked in his brain somewhere, because you haven’t mentioned the book at all since then. You had told Kaecilius your deepest, darkest secrets, trusting him with both your heart and soul. But now, he just had to break your heart and crush your spirit. 

“Come with us, (Y/N). I beg of you. We will be happy together forever.” He continued to plead with you, but this time, he already knew your answer. 

“No. I’m sorry, Kaecilius.” His features contorted into rage before he shoved the translucent spear through, cleanly severing the librarian’s neck. The blood gushed onto the floor, and all you could think was: _Well, at least Wong will get to be in the position he’s always wanted._

Kaecilius practically tore the _Book of Cagliostro_ from it’s chains, and opened it to a certain page. He quickly ripped a few pages out, while all you could do was stare at the blood pooling around the body. 

Kaecilius opened a gateway to… wherever, and his lackeys jumped in. He glanced over his shoulder at you, before turning around and heading through his gateway. You don’t remember how long you stood staring at the body until the shock died down enough to realize you weren’t there anymore. You had somehow moved to Mother’s room, and was laying on her bed with your head in her lap, with her hands slowly moving through your hair comfortingly. You were thirty-six, and she was still comforting you like you were a child. Tears made their way down your face, one by one. 

“Shh, it’s okay (Y/N). It’s okay.” Mother whispered in your ear as you cried into her robe. 

After that day, you wanted a fresh start. 

“Where would you like to go?” Mother asked. 

“I don’t know. Anywhere, as long as it isn’t here. It just reminds me too much… of _him_.” That’s what you called him now. The man who broke your heart. The man who made such a strong woman weak. 

Mother smiled at you. “I know just where you should go.” 

_And that is where your story began._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know how I did. Also, I've got like at least 7 fics in my head at the moment, but the next one already has an outline, and is starting to be written already.
> 
> Also, about some things...  
> \- I don’t actually know who the Ancient One’s soulmate would be, I just made up something completely random.  
> \- The Armlet of Concealment. I made this up. I don’t know if it, or something like it actually exists in the Marvel / Doctor Strange universe(s).


	3. Starting Anew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You meet Stephen, for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if I made Stephen seem out of character, I don't usually write for everyone to read, most just for myself to get an idea out of my head that takes up more room than it should... Anyway, you get to meet him in this chapter.
> 
> Note I'm not an expert on anything remotely to do with medical procedures or even first aid... It's just some half-assed research off of Google.

“So wait a minute… where am I going again?” You asked Mother. You were both walking towards one of the doors in the room where the Eye resided. The door to New York City, USA. Growing up, although you did learn everything there was to know about your ‘house’, you’ve never actually been beyond the doors to other places. 

“You’re going to have to get over your irrational fear of leaving here, (Y/N).” She turned towards you, and placed her hand upon your shoulder. “You’ll do well in the mundane world.” She removed her hand and padded over to the door, opening it. You both walked through it, and into the New York Sanctum. 

“But what if I give something away? What if I slip and use magic, or-” Mother cut off your rambling with her hand. 

“I’m sure you’ll be perfectly fine. You’ve been training for this mission your entire life.” Mother kept walking into the foyer, leaving you to wonder about what she said. Before you could wonder any further, you shook your thoughts away and quickly caught up to the older woman. A man in robes walked towards you, bowing in respect to Mother. You recognized him from the meetings she would have with the guardians of the Sanctums. _Master Drumm_ , your mind supplied. 

“Hello, Ancient One, (Y/N).” He dipped his head when he saw you behind Mother, and only straightened up when she nodded towards him. 

“Master Drumm.” You greeted. 

“I have a request for you.” Mother said. 

“Yes?” He replied. 

“I wish for (Y/N) to stay here with you for a year or two, for her mission which is in the city.” 

He nodded and gestured for you to follow him. You walked to the kitchen, and Daniel Drumm offered you both cups of tea. And just like Mother, you took yours with a spoonful of honey. 

“Where will she be going, if I may ask?” Daniel said. 

“New York Hospital. She’s going to check on our good friend, Stephen Strange.” Mother answered. 

“Ah, the famous neurosurgeon.” Daniel looked towards you, perhaps knowing something that you don’t. He smiled, and continued. “He would make a great sorcerer if it wasn’t for his pride and arrogance.” 

“That he would,” you replied. “That he would.” 

Mother looked in your direction before she set down her tea and stood up. “Well, as long as you listen to Master Drumm, you should be fine.” 

“You’re leaving me already?” You asked. 

“You are starting work as a nurse at New York Hospital in the morning.” With those parting words thrown over her shoulder, she walked through the doors back to the temple of Kamar-Taj, the place you have always called home. 

Until now. 

~~~

The rest of your day at the New York Sanctum was spent reading up on everything about Stephen Strange, neurosurgery, and generally how to be a nurse. During the night, you astral projected to let your body rest, but you could still study. By the morning, you could have been called an expert.Another skill that you had, besides being unnaturally silent, that you found useful was your ability to pick up almost any skill instantly by either reading about it or watching other people do it. It’s how you were so good at almost everything you do, even though you’ve never practiced before. After all, the Kamar-Taj library had many different books on many different subjects. 

Soon, your alarm went off, signaling your first day on the job. You slipped back into your body, shut off the alarm, and quickly slipped on your sling ring, conjuring a gateway in an alley near the hospital. Smoothing down your clothes, you realized you didn’t take any time to get ready. Snapping your fingers, (although you didn’t have to do that. If anything, you were just a tad dramatic, a trait you picked up from Mother,) your clothes changed into the medical scrubs you had shifted onto your armlet earlier, and your hair was done in a neat ponytail that wouldn’t get in the way. 

You entered the hospital, and were greeted with an unsmiling receptionist, the smell of both antiseptic and lemons, and _white_. The color white was everywhere. There was no color in this whole hospital except for the people. Even the lights were white. 

Walking up to the receptionist, you stated your name and reason for being there before she had even asked for it. She looked surprised for a moment, then she smiled for the first time in a while. 

“Oh I like you.” She said, while searching your name. And as luck would have it, you had the exact same shifts as one Doctor Stephen Strange, and you were supposed to work with him on all scheduled surgeries. 

Internally, you groaned. Though there was no reason to believe magic was used to make this happen, there was also no such thing as coincidence. You stared at your soulmark for a while as the receptionist checked you in and gave you your instructions. You listened in part, your brain catching every word she said and storing it for later, knowing you would need it sometime down the road. 

After learning the receptionist's name, you turned around, and for a split second, your entire universe stopped moving. 

Because the most gorgeous man you had ever seen had walked through the doors. And that was saying something, considering you were a sorcerer who could travel between different dimensions. 

Trying to avoid the extremely handsome creature, you quickly walked towards the operating theater, and grabbed a pair of gloves, making sure that they were the correct size, before pulling them on your fingers. After a minute or so of setting up the medical instruments in a specific way, you heard Doctor Strange walk in. You glanced up only to see the same man who made your whole world stop spinning for that second earlier. _Of course, the hottest man in the multiverse has to be the doctor I’m paired with._ He stopped mid step and you could feel his gaze on you. You looked up to see him, gave him a small smile, and went back to re-arranging the tools. You could tell he was confused by you, a new variable in the tried and true equation. 

“I’m new here _._ ” You spoke up. 

He shrugged and started walking again, but before you left, you happened to notice a tattoo on his arms. _No. Not a tattoo… A soulmark._ A wolf with a black back, fading into a white belly, howling, surrounded by an almost glowing (e/c) aura. 

Wondering who his soulmate could possibly be, you shook your head and picked up your pace again, arranging the instruments in an aesthetically pleasing way, as well as functional. 

The first scheduled surgery on the list was in about an hour. 

For that entire hour, Stephen just walked around the room, muttering to himself. You didn’t think he knew you could hear him. 

“What are they thinking, putting a newbie with me? I don’t need the distraction. Not bad on the eyes, though. Maybe I’ll try her out for a few, make sure she doesn’t get passed to,” he shuddered violently, “Nick.” You smiled for a minute, then frowned. While it was almost touching that he was concerned about you, it also didn’t escape your attention that he didn’t want you. For some reason, pain jolted through your heart. But you didn’t know why it was there. Then remembered you weren’t supposed to be hearing him. It just made you hurt worse, knowing that he was saying it behind your back. 

Other nurses then wheeled in the patient that you were supposed to be working on for the next few hours, and you got to work. 

Every time Stephen was about to ask for a tool or a hand, you were there with that tool or hand before he even asked for it. The students studying you (the other surgeons all knew they were there, but with your exceptional hearing, you could hear them whispering on the other side of the glass) thought you had been a nurse forever, with the way you moved and acted in the room. Although you didn’t know it, Stephen was also impressed.

When you both walked out of the operating theater, you could tell he was staring at you with something akin to admiration. 

“What?” You asked him while cleaning your hands. He shook his head.

“It’s just, are you sure you’re new at this?” Stephen questioned. 

You gave him a chuckle and turned back to washing your hands. “I never said I was new at this. I just said that I was new here.” You also never said you _weren’t_ new to this. After all, you just started studying it yesterday. 

After a few months, you realized what the feeling in your gut was every time you saw Stephen. Love, or at least something close to it. Every time you worked with him, saw him, smelled his scent, heard his voice, or when your skin grazed his, your love grew stronger. However, there was a problem with secretly loving Stephen. 

That problem’s name was Christine Palmer. 

You knew she was technically dating your coworker, even if they both denied it immensely whenever someone brought it up. But you also knew she was jealous of you. She kept trying to convince you that Stephen was absolutely incorrigible. Yes, you could see that, but you could also see _past_ that. You could see his pride, huge ego and arrogance, but also the hard working man underneath. The man who graduated early, who was possibly smarter than Tony Stark, and who was confident in his abilities because he had reason to be. 

On the other side of the equation, the accomplished doctor found you very intriguing. He held you in a high regard. You were the only nurse that actually knew what she was doing, ready with the correct instruments before he even said a word. He wondered what secrets were hiding behind those (e/c) eyes of yours. 

Stephen had always wanted someone like you to come along. Every time he would see you, his heart would kick into overdrive and his hands would become slightly clammy, though he ignored it in favor of trying to win your friendship. He was grateful for you for the first few weeks, then he just started expecting you to be there. Whenever you weren’t in the operating theater with him, he would refuse to work until you got there. He wouldn’t even have Christine work with him, only you. Though others may be in the room, the two of you were definitely the best in the entire hospital, even in the state, maybe the country or even the world. 

One morning, many weeks after you had started, it was a certain doctor’s birthday. You had gotten closer to him and learned so much about him, but you still hadn’t decided on a present for him, when you walked past a shop selling expensive watches. You were sure that he already had many, but decided on buying him one anyway. Walking into the shop, you were greeted with the sight of many different watches displayed, and many different price ranges. For some reason, the back half of the store was displaying comic books. 

Browsing through the watches, you waited for an attendant to come out from behind the door. The only other person was an older, white haired gentleman with a moustache wearing glasses looking through the comics. 

Suddenly, a flash of silver caught your eye. You walked over to where you thought it came from, and you saw one watch that put the rest to shame, at least in your eyes. The display read “Jaeger LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Perpetual in white gold”.

Mentally noting the place of the watch, you weaved your way towards the front desk. 

After standing there for an awkward few seconds, you decided to call into the back, to see if anyone was there. “Hello?” 

“Stan. Stan Lee, at your service.” A voice replied. Startled, you turned to find the white haired man from earlier in front of you. _So he’s an attendant, not a customer. Duly noted._ “Got your eye on anything specific?” He gestured around the store. 

“Umm, there was a Jaeger LeCoultre?” You phrased it as more of a question. 

“The one Doctor Strange wears?” Stan walked towards the area you noted earlier in your head. _How could he possibly know about…? Stephen already has this watch?_

As if he read your mind, he cleared up what he said. “Wrote this comic about a fictional superhero called Doctor Strange in July 1963, and it got a little famous. People couldn’t help but want to buy a replica of his watch.”

Turning to you, he held out a comic titled _Strange Tales, #110_. Stan turned back around to continue on his way, and you followed him closely, looking at the illustration on the cover, which depicted a man with somewhat similar features to the Doctor Strange you knew. 

Soon, you both reached the display with the watch that had caught your eyes not long ago. He pivoted to you, and pointed at the watch, as if to say _‘This one?’_ You simply nodded in reply, and he reached inside the case, pulling it out. 

Walking back to the counter, you handed him back the comic as he went behind it and started putting it into the box. 

“Mr. Lee, how much for the watch?” You asked Stan. He paused and looked up from his task and smiled. 

“For you? Nothing at all. And it’s Stan.” He replied. He looked back down and continued. 

“Alright, Stan, but I’m sure that it costs a lot of money! After all, it’s made with white gold. I have more than enough to pay any price!” You exclaimed.

“But I have a feeling that you aren’t buying it for yourself. You’re buying it for someone close to you. Possibly a lover?” Stan winked and pulled a box out from under the counter. He pulled out a small fancy royal blue bag, and put it in, shoving tissue paper on the top. Well, there goes needing to wrap it. 

“Are you sure you won’t take any payment for it?” You questioned as he pushed the bag towards you. 

“I’m sure. Let me know how it goes with the doctor, (Y/N).” With another wink, he left to help another customer who had just walked in. 

“But I never said anything about a doctor… or my name.” You muttered to the empty space that was occupied not ten seconds earlier. 

You snapped out of your shock, and walked out to an alley, shifting the present onto your armlet. You walked back to the hospital with the gift, excited to see Stephen. You two had gotten much closer, and spent a lot of time together both inside and outside the hospital. You knew of his reputation as a player, or a ladies man, but you had decided that you would be his friend anyway, hoping to one day be more. 

Once you got to the hospital, the rest of the day was spent rushing around after Stephen, because there was an unusual number of surgeries that needed to be done. After your shift, you went home and collapsed on your couch, the birthday present forgotten. 

Meanwhile, Stephen was falling even harder than he already was for you. He was excited to see if you had gotten him anything, but when you came back with nothing (or so it appeared), he was actually still pretty happy. You didn’t want to win him over with expensive gifts, only with your personality. You were more of a friend than practically everyone he’d ever met was. He was perfectly content to spend his birthday with you by his side, helping him save lives. For once, he didn’t note how many lives he was saving, or how much money he was making. All he noticed was how hard you worked, the way you smiled after helping to save someone’s life, how hard you concentrated on your task, and of course, the way you knew exactly what had to happen without him having to tell you about it. 

A few months after his birthday, you found his present again as you were going through the items on your armlet. Your eyes went huge. “Oh shit…” 

You shifted the bag and its contents into the world, and delicately pulled out the expensive watch. 

You knew you were in love with the tall, high-cheekboned neurosurgeon, but you never quite knew how to express it. Thinking of a way to tell him, you paced back and forth in your small apartment. Most options ended with you never seeing him again, and him ending up with… Christine. You suppressed a shiver at her name in your mind. You didn’t really like her, but she was one of Stephen’s best friends, so you weren’t mean to her, but you also didn’t go out of your way to be extra nice. 

So you decided on the option that would break Stephen’s heart, but make sure he was taken care of. 

The next couple of months were spent with Stephen, getting closer and closer. Soon, it was almost a year since you had started at New York Hospital and met Stephen. You looked at the watch one more time, before deciding to add something to it. 

You placed a simple spell upon it, linking it to another watch that you always wore. The spell made sure that you would be able to tell where Stephen was if he was ever in so much trouble that he couldn’t handle it without you, if he ever wore the watch while you were wearing yours. 

You also engraved it with magic, the words in a looping cursive. _Time will tell how much I love you ~ (Y/N)_

The next day, you didn’t forget about the present, but you decided to wait until the right time to give it to him. But what determines the right time? You ended up waiting for a whole month, before you got sick of waiting. Before you got sick of watching him flirt with Christine and other people. Sure, you two weren’t in an exclusive relationship, or hell, even _in_ a relationship at all, but you still thought that he would take you out, kiss you on the cheek, and stay on the couch while you slept in your room like he used to. 

So you finally decided to leave back to your first home, Kamar-Taj. Watching Stephen forget about you was killing you on the inside. 

You left the present in his house, along with his key that he had given you months ago, with a card saying “Happy Belated Birthday!” You could only hope that he would wear it often, but you couldn’t lie to yourself. He probably only found you interesting because of your “talent” and your looks, and wouldn’t wear it at all. 

Loving Stephen from the sidelines wasn’t enough for you anymore. You couldn’t watch him abandon you like _he_ did. You would never see him again, you were sure. But you never could have guessed Stephen’s reaction to you being gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, you met Stephen! And oh no, you left him. But it's for his own good... right?
> 
> Other things:  
> \- The whole "Jaeger LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Perpetual in white gold”. I looked it up. Like 3 times. They all said this specific watch was the one Christine had given to Stephen.  
> \- Don't hate on my Stan Lee cameo, I wanted to get him into the story, and this was the only way I could fit him in.  
> \- I don't know if the original comic even depicted him wearing the watch, so...  
> \- When I looked up the price of the watch, it was 27,700 pounds sterling, or just over 36,000 American dollars.


	4. You Were Better Than She'll Ever Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephen realizes exactly what you mean to him. Oh, and his accident happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not posting yesterday, I was really busy. Anyway, 2 chapters today to make up for it, yay! Plus, this one's pretty short, so, there's that. Also, does anybody have a clue why "yay" is spelled incorrectly according to AO3? Like seriously?

Stephen woke up the next day to find a navy blue present, a birthday card, and the key he gave you long ago on his counter. He opened the present and pulled out the most beautiful watch he’d ever seen. Something inside himself prompted him to look at the other side, and he found the inscription. He brought a hand to his mouth as he read your words, and he knew he had to go and apologize and make it clear that you meant a lot to him. 

For one of the first times in his life, he was scared. Terrified, even. He couldn’t imagine his life without you in it. 

He saw the key and knew what it meant, but he prayed to whatever higher power that was up there that he was wrong. He hoped that you didn’t decide to uproot yourself from his world. 

He had to get to the hospital. He had to know for sure. But first, he carefully put on the watch you bought and engraved for him. 

~~~

“What do you mean, ‘she’s gone’?” Stephen asked a very irritated Christine. They were walking towards the operating theater, and he was bewildered at why you had suddenly resigned last week. As far as he knew, you were happy as someone could be working in a hospital. Maybe it was him, maybe he somehow made you leave, maybe-

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe just _exactly what I mean_.” She hissed back, interrupting his thoughts and opening the door for him. She never liked you, and always thought you were trying to take Stephen away from her. Internally, she was happy you were gone, that way she could be with him again. She saw him less while you were around. 

“But (Y/N) wouldn’t just leave like that.” Stephen stopped in the entryway, staring off into space. Absentmindedly, he scratched at his soulmark, drawing some of her attention to it. 

“You don’t know her. I’ve been here longer and you don’t know everything about me.” Christine had to hide a smirk, thinking she was right. 

“Shut up Christine, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Stephen shook his head to rid his mind of you, and walked into the OR. Though he was internally panicking, he had a job to do. 

~~~

A few hours later, the surgery was done. Stephen was washing his hands in the sink, thinking of the surgery, when you appeared in his head.

A couple of memories swirled in his head of you helping him perform many brain surgeries. You always seemed to know exactly what he needed before he needed it. Then his mind flashed to the surgery he just completed. 

_He held his hand out to Christine for an instrument, and she handed him one. He went to use it, only to realize it’s the wrong one. He looked back at Christine, and asked for a different one. She blushed with embarrassment, and took the wrong tool from him, replacing it with the right one._

_A group of colleagues (including Nick West,) were with them in the OR. They have all seen you and Stephen practice together, and they wondered where you went. Through the tense silence of the room, Stephen could hear a few of the words muttered by them._

_“(Y/N) would never have made a mistake like that. Even under more pressure than Christine is now.” Stephen couldn’t help but smile at the mention of you under his mask._

He wondered where you had gone, and why you had left. He wondered if it had something to do with him, or if Christine had somehow scared you off. Stephen wasn’t half the cocky self-absorbed stuck-up person people usually thought of him as. Well, he _was_ cocky and stuck-up, but his point was, he was more observant than people gave him credit for. Especially when it came to you. He noticed whenever you and Christine chatted, you would always look between him and her. 

He always came to the conclusion you two had been talking about him. 

He knew now that you had loved him, but he also knew Christine loved him too. She must have said something to make you leave. 

~~~

Later that same week, he had a speaking engagement to drive to. He felt good, he had just saved a man from the incompetence of his colleagues just before he left, but he didn’t wear the watch you gave him, as he did almost every waking second. He was never seen in public lately without it. So it was unusual that he wasn’t wearing it. 

He headed to his apartment after his shift, and he walked around slowly, reminiscing in the memories you and he had made. He looked at the time on his phone, and realized he had better start getting ready. 

After changing his clothes to something more suitable, he stood in front of the windows, looking out onto the city. He walked over to the one place he knew he could find something of yours, and opened the drawer full of watches he had collected over time. 

He selected his favorite watch, and slipped it on, but not before he reread the inscription for quite possibly the millionth time, although you had only left a week ago. 

Walking down to his car, his thoughts drifted to you, and he wore his rare smile, that became even more rare after you had left. As he got in, the smile dropped, and he started the car, racing out of the garage like a maniac. Though he always drove like this, somehow, he felt like this drive was going to change his life, but he ignored the feeling, pushing it away in favor of answering his phone for more work. 

“Billy. What have you got for me?” He glanced down at his phone before looking back at the road, where it was becoming dark. 

“I’ve got a 35 year old Air Force Colonel. Crushed his lower spine in some kind of experimental armor. Mid-thoracic burst fracture.” The man called Billy answered. 

“Yeah well I could help, but so could 50 other people. Find me something worth my time.” Stephen replied.

“I have a 68 year old female with an advanced brain system glioma.” 

“Yeah, you want me to screw up my perfect record? Definitely not.” Stephen looked at his watch, and noticed it was starting to come undone. Before he could think of it any further, it slipped off completely. He stared at the leather and metal on the floorboards, and started to reach out to grab it when Billy spoke again, earning all his attention again. 

“How about a 22 year old female with an electronic implant in her brain to control schizophrenia struck by lightning?” He could hear thunder outside his car as he kept passing people dangerously fast. It started to rain heavily. 

“That does sound interesting. Could you send me the…” He started to pass the car in front of him, his phone lit up with the notification. “Got it.” 

Driving at that speed, he slightly turned the wheel and he sideswiped the other car, driving off the edge of the road and rolling down the cliff, landing half in the water with a chain link fence barely holding his car out of the river. Before he blacked out, he thought of a couple things. 

One, he wished he had grabbed your watch from the floor. Two, he mused at what you were doing without him. And three, he wondered why you had left. 

Maybe you had thought him and Christine were something, although he knew they _never_ would be. Or maybe he didn’t appreciate you enough. He didn’t realize how much he took you for granted. He didn’t know how much you meant to him, both inside and outside the hospital, until you were gone. Gone from the OR. Gone from the hospital. 

Gone from his life. 

Or so he thought. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think, I really enjoy hearing what you guys have to say!
> 
> Other Notes:  
> \- The whole “'I’ve got a 35 year old Air Force Colonel. Crushed his lower spine in some kind of experimental armor. Mid-thoracic burst fracture.' 'Yeah well I could help, but so could 50 other people. Find me something worth my time.'"? THAT'S FREAKING RHODEY. FIGHT ME. YOU KNOW IT'S HIM. ALSO, DON’T HATE ON HIM. HE COULD GO FULL WAR MACHINE ON YOUR ASS.


	5. The Guardian... Angel? More Like Animal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The whole Doctor Strange movie in one chapter, from mostly your point of view. Also, it diverges from canon a bit, because obviously, you're there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I think I tried to touch on the entire movie in this one chapter, so sorry in advance for all the skipping around, and it's also REALLY long.

“Please Mother!” You pleaded with the Ancient One. You had been asking for this particular favor ever since you left New York a week ago. She kept refusing, mainly to make sure you wanted to go down that path. 

“Fine.” She finally granted you your wish. “When?” 

“As soon as possible.” You answered quickly. 

“Now? Are you sure?” 

“Yes. One hundred percent.” 

“You may never be able to truly revert back to this form again.” 

“I know. I understand and accept all the possible side effects.” 

“Alright. Let’s do it.” 

You clapped your hands together, smiling, and walked to your room, the one that you needed to go through Mother’s room and behind a bookshelf for. She followed you, a couple of paces behind. 

Once you both reached your room, she sat down on the couch you kept down there while you stood in front of her. She sighed heavily, and stood up after a minute of resting her tired bones. 

She closed her eyes, and held out her hands in your direction before making movements, conjuring a spell. As she waved her long, slender fingers, not orange, but blue sparks trailed behind them. Slowly, the outline of a wolf was made by the blue trails, and as the Ancient One opened her eyes, she pushed the glowing shape towards you. Slowly, painfully, you started transforming into a wolf. After long, torturous moments of agony, you stood proudly in your new form. Coming to about Mother’s waist height, you were taller than a normal wolf. You opened your (e/c) eyes to see the world in much more detail than before. 

Most people thought that canines saw in black and white, but that wasn’t true. Not for you at least. You saw the harsh yellow of Mother’s robes, the dull gray of the surrounding room, even the dust motes floating in the air. Your senses of hearing, smell, and touch were also heightened as well. 

As you looked around at the room you’ve called yours for most of your life, you felt a wave of sadness crash into you. Gazing at Mother, you realized that you were slowly gaining height.  _ But how could you be growing? _ Turns out, you had two forms. The wolf one, and a mostly human one. 

You looked around yourself again once more, as you shifted into your human form. Or what you thought was your human form. You didn't notice the wolf ears that peeked out from your hair, or the tail from under your shirt. You didn't notice your wolfish fangs glinting in the light as you smiled. But it worked. The spell had worked. 

“(Y/N)?” You snapped your gaze to her as she walked towards you slowly. Carefully, she moved her hands to yours, and pulled them to your head, where you felt your ears. She pulled them to your tail, then your fangs, almost cutting yourself on them. 

“Interesting…” Mother said. You smiled at her, and spun around a couple of times, admiring your new appearance. You suddenly remembered your armlet, and wondered if it would work. So you tested it out. 

With a snap of your fingers, your tail, ears, and fangs were gone. You smiled wider as you realized this meant that you could still be seen around people. Well, you could before, but you would have probably incited a modern day witch hunt. After all, not many people knew that sorcerers existed. 

You climbed up the stairs back to Mother’s room, and walked back out into the halls of Kamar-Taj. The Ancient One hung back, a small smile playing on her lips as she remembers the path she originally saw for you when she found you upon her doorstep. Although you didn’t know it, you had just sealed your fate, as well as the others’ around you. 

~~~

It was later that evening when it first happened. 

You felt incredible pain, mainly in your hands. Slowly, it faded away, leaving you gasping for breath. The class you were supervising stared at you, but you just waved your hand towards them, gesturing for them to keep practicing. 

Your mind flashed back to something Mother had said before:  _ “However, there is a downside to having a soulmate. If they are in extreme pain, you will feel it too.” _

As you walked to your other room (not the one in the basement, you had one for normal living just like everyone else), you noticed the pain was still there, just not as prominent. 

You sat down on your bed, and wondered about your soulmate. Obviously, he had gotten hurt, probably in an accident or something. His hands must have been damaged, because the pain was mostly in your hands. 

You were wearing your watch that was connected to the one you gave Stephen when you suddenly felt that he was in danger. Quickly, you conjured a gateway within a mile of where Stephen was. 

You shifted into your new wolf form after it closed behind you and ran straight to where Stephen laid unconscious, in a car, upside down, at the bottom of a cliff. He had obviously just been in an accident, probably driving recklessly as he usually did. To top it all off, it was raining and you could see his hands  _ inside _ the dashboard. 

Guessing that he had been there for a few hours already, you wondered why it took so long for the watches to warn you. Then you realized that his watch had  _ just  _ slipped from the floorboards and came to a rest near him, touching his pale skin stained with blood. 

You lifted your snout and inhaled deeply, seeing if anyone was there. There was a hunter a few minutes away… and not just any hunter, a wolf hunter. If you howled, it would certainly bring him in your direction. So that’s what you did. 

Five minutes later, you were crouched on the other side of Stephen’s car, and watched as the hunter snuck down to the car to see what was inside. When he saw the doctor inside, although he may not have known who it was, he immediately took out his phone and dialed 911, calling in the accident. 

Satisfied with your work, you watched the hunter turn away, running in the direction you came from. 

~~~

The next time you saw the one you love but left behind, it was almost six months later. His hair was unkempt and ratty, his clothes torn, his hands bandaged, and coincidentally, he was in Kathmandu, Tibet. Near Kamar-Taj, in fact. You saw him be led inside the temple by Mordo, who winked at you as he passed by. You were standing guard outside the door in your wolf form when they passed you. Stephen’s eyes seemed to analyze you, and you hoped that he couldn’t tell it was you. Relief swamped you when he turned to follow Mordo inside the door. 

Of course he didn’t notice it was you, the only thing that was  _ you _ about your wolf form was the green soulmark embedded in your fur for all to see, and the (e/c) eyes seeming to peer into people’s souls. With the pitch black fur of your back fading into the silky white fur of your underbelly, people tended to ignore you or slink away, but you didn’t mind. Of course, being larger than a normal wolf, and most breeds of dogs, seemed to keep people from looking too closely. That, and the glistening fangs. 

A few hours later, although it only seemed like minutes, Stephen was roughly shoved out the door, and onto the street in front of you. Mordo looked straight at you and said “Don’t let him in.” With a nod, you turned to the street again, your gaze passing over everyone, even Stephen. 

“No… no, no, no, no, no, no!” The doctor turned to find his things thrown out beside him, as he ran back up to the door and started pounding on it furiously, yelling about “I have nowhere else to go!” and “Please don’t shut me out!” 

Quietly, you went into the street, and carefully, you pushed his bag towards him. He turned to you once he realized he left his things in the street, only to find that you were nosing it delicately in his direction. He warily took the bag from you, but you just returned to your post, guarding the door. 

While he was sifting through his bag, you noticed something silver glint as it caught the light. Stephen noticed the light flash across your fur covered face, and he pulled out the now-broken watch. Well, the mechanics of it were broken. Your spell was still as strong as the day you cast it, over half a year ago. His shaking hands cupped the item like it was a treasure, and not knowing it was you, he started to speak. 

“You know, this was given to me by the love of my life. The only person to ever really like me for me. She was… amazing. She would practically know what I was thinking before I even consciously knew it. She was the best thing to ever happen to me.” He seemed to have trouble speaking for a moment, his eyes brighter than what was considered normal. He cleared his throat, continuing. “Then she… left me. I don’t know why, and I  _ hate _ it. I keep wondering if I wasn’t good enough, or if I did something wrong. This is the last thing she gave me, and it was broken by muggers. I just wish I could see her again, to tell her all this. ” He wiped his eyes quickly with his dirty, torn sleeve, and gave a humorless chuckle. “Look at me, spilling all my secrets and crying to a  _ dog _ in the middle of a foreign country, of all things. Guess I’ve really gone insane without her, huh?” He finally looks towards you, and you wished you could show yourself to him, but he didn’t deserve to know. He didn’t deserve to break your heart anymore. 

So instead, you gave him a soft nudge with your head, bumping his arm lightly. He gave you a teary-eyed smile, and reached his hand to your head, and he started to scratch. You would’ve been lying to yourself if you said you didn’t like it. Normally, you tried to bite anyone who had tried to pet you, (except Mother, Wong, and Mordo. Mother, you’ll let her do almost anything to you that she wants, whether it was petting, rubbing, or just you lying at her feet. Wong was the next person you were closest to, and he didn’t do much, so you just laid at his feet or followed him around the library. Mordo, he was the third most trustworthy person, although something in the back of your mind kept warning you that something was off about him. And the worst part of it all was that nobody except Mother knew that the wolf padded around the temple was you, although you thought that Wong maybe figured it out), but this was  _ Stephen _ . This was a small smile sent to you while saving a life in the OR, this was taking you out to the theater and laughing together at how things weren’t realistic until you were both kicked out of the theater, and this was him kissing you on the cheek goodnight until you saw him the next day. This was comfort, this was  _ home _ . 

It was then that you realized something. Something important. You were never going to get over Stephen, but then again, maybe you weren’t trying to in the first place. Maybe you were trying to  _ find _ him. It didn’t make much sense, but when your mother can see your future, you can turn into a wolf, your ex murdered people with magic, and a giant celestial being was trying to take over the planet, did it have to? 

Stephen gave you a small nudge back, pulling you back into the real world. For the first time since you left him, you smiled a real smile, although it was in your wolf form. He smiled back and you  _ knew _ that he was the one you were going to end up with, no matter how many hardships you both would face, if he turned out to be your soulmate or not. 

So you did what you normally wouldn’t do. You laid down, put your head in his lap, and promptly fell asleep. 

~~~

When you came to, the first thing you noticed was the slightly shivering body curled around yours, or as much as it could be, sitting up. 

You sat up and instantly pressed your side against Stephen’s, at the same time drinking in his scent that was tainted with travel, sweat, and grime. He leaned into you, and folded his arms, trying to help himself get warmer. 

Suddenly, the door he was leaning on opened, and he fell on his back inside, uttering a small “Thank you.” You got up and padded inside as well, before the door swung shut behind you. 

The next few days you spent by Stephen’s side, allowing him to touch, hold, pet, and dare you say love you, though no one else was able to do that. The sorcerers who didn’t know you (so everyone except Mother, and maybe Wong,) saw what looked to be a wolf following its master around. 

Soon, he cleaned himself up, after the whole Everest incident, at least. You hated how long his beard was. You watched him while he shaped his unkempt beard into what you thought was a fashionable goatee. Much like the renowned hero Iron Man, or Tony Stark, as he’s also known to the world as, had. 

But about a month after that, he finally looked at you closely for the first time. He noticed the intricate pattern of your fur, and the green overlay of your soulmark. He noticed the shade of your eyes reminded him of the you he remembered in the hospital. He noticed that his soulmark matched you perfectly. 

But what did that mean? Was he supposed to forever be in love with an animal? Or did something happen to either you, or him to make you both the same species? 

The day that Stephen Strange stepped foot into the temple of Kamar-Taj was the day that (Y/N) (Y/L/N) disappeared from it. But sorcerers came and went, so it meant nothing to anyone except Wong and Mordo. 

When Stephen became good friends with Wong, it was the best day ever. You could tell that Wong knew you were the wolf. So in secret, you let him come to your room, so you could have one of your friends to talk to. It felt amazing to finally be able to  _ speak  _ to someone. 

After a few more weeks of following Stephen around, you heard the rumors. The rumors that  _ he _ was back. So you did the only thing you could think to do. Disappear. 

You hung around Stephen that last day, practically glued to his legs, and the next day, you locked yourself in your room, vowing not to come out until this whole mess was completely sorted. You knew if you saw  _ him _ again, he could probably make you do anything he wanted. 

So you went to Mother’s room, and walked to her bookcase, the one that eventually led to your room. You walked down to your room, the bookcase sliding closed behind you. And you planned to stay there for the foreseeable future. 

~~~

The second time your soulmate was in danger was when you were in your self-imposed lockdown. You felt a stabbing pain in both your shoulder and your abdomen. All you could do was sit there in extreme pain. You didn’t know what your soulmate was dealing with at the moment, you only wish that you could’ve been there for them. After the pain finally faded away for the most part, you stared at your soulmark, hoping that they didn’t die. After a few hours of looking at the crisp, bright green lines, you safely decided that your soulmate  _ didn’t  _ die, otherwise the filigree and runes would’ve faded and blurred before your eyes. 

That’s when you felt something else. 

Something was wrong.  _ Very _ wrong. You didn’t know what it was, but you knew it had to do with Mother. She was dying. And there wasn’t anything you could do about it. So you shifted into your human form, laid down on your bed, and wept. You finally released the tears that have been building up ever since  _ he _ left. You cried away your hurt, your pain, until you slipped into a dreamless sleep. 

But what you didn’t know was that you forgot to shift your tail and ears onto your armlet. 

~~~

_ Meanwhile, in Hong Kong…  _

“What is this?” Kaecilius started to slowly fade into dust, becoming something darker, less human. 

“Well, it’s, uh… it’s everything you’ve ever wanted. Eternal life as part of the One. You’re not going to like it.” Stephen had a look in his eye, thinking he won the war. 

“Well then, Doctor. Tell (Y/N) her ex said ‘Hi’.” Kaecilius gave a smirk as Stephen’s face morphed from smug to confused and terrified. Before Stephen could ask what he meant, Kaecilius was gone. 

He snapped out of his trance, filing away the information for later, if he ever saw you again. 

“I think he really should have stolen the whole book, because the warnings… The warnings come  _ after _ the spells.” He looked over at Wong who had suddenly burst into laughter. 

“Oh, that’s funny.” Wong wiped a fake tear from his eye. 

“We did it.” Stephen said. 

“Yes.” Wong replied. 

“Yes, we did it.” Stephen said once again. 

“By also violating the natural laws.” Mordo spoke for the first time in a while. 

“Look around you. It’s over.” Stephen turned to Mordo, hoping that what he’s hearing won’t affect their friendship. 

“You still think there will be no consequences, Strange? No price to pay? We broke our rules, just like her. The bill comes due. Always. A reckoning. I will follow this path no longer.” Mordo turns and walks away from them, away from that life, away from his friends. 

~~~

Later that evening, Stephen walked into the Ancient One’s room, planning to take in the place, thinking if he was there, she would be too, at least in spirit. 

On one of her bookshelves, he found a note addressed to him, the blue ink standing out against the cream paper. His shaking hands reached out to pick up the letter, opening it as tears sprang to his eyes. When he pulled out the paper, he started to read. 

Only to find that it was empty. He flipped the paper over and over, trying to find someplace that held the last piece of her that he’ll ever see. 

“No no no no no no NO!” He yelled the last word. “This can’t be! She had to have left something for me!” He added under his breath. 

He crumpled the paper up, and threw it at a wall. He watched it fly to the left-most bookshelf, and land precariously on a book, almost falling off. 

Stephen stood from where he was sitting on her bed, and he went to grab the paper, only to grab the book as well. He slightly pulled on it, and found the bookshelf sliding away in front of him, to reveal a staircase spiraling down into darkness. 

As he got to the bottom, he heard slight snoring, as if someone was sleeping. He walked into the room that awaited him, and found… 

You. A little different, with the tail and ears, but still, unmistakable, undeniably you. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think.


	6. Finding Your Soulmate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and Stephen finally meet again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... My computer likes to not connect to the internet, and I finally ad the bright idea to unplug and replug the router in, so... yeah. On the bright side, I'm going to be spam-posting the rest of the chapters to make up for it.
> 
> A note:  
> \- When someone speaks in all italics, it means they are speaking in the language of the wolves. I should have expanded on that earlier, sorry.

Stephen couldn’t believe his eyes. You were _here_ ? This whole time? He _really_ needed to learn to see into his future better. He also noticed the tail poking out from under your shirt, and your ears from your hair. You were sleeping on your bed, snoring slightly. 

He could hear you mumbling something to yourself, something about… him? 

“Stephen… don’t go. Don’t… leave… for her. Stay… please… Don’t go, don’t go, DON’T GO!” You shot up, tears streaming from eyes as you clutched the edges of your bed. 

Stephen opened the Eye of Agamotto in a panic, the green runes floating around his wrist. He looked at the runes, then at you… and your soulmark. He had noticed it when you both worked at New York Hospital, but never really thought much of it before then. The runes winding around his wrist were the same as the ones the universe (more like multiverse) had drawn upon your skin. The filigree was the same as when he cast a spell, but this seemed more… aesthetic, pleasing to the eye, than an actual spell. Not to mention, it was the _exact_ same shade of green as the light inside the Eye. 

Suddenly, you stiffened even more, if that was possible, and as you jumped out of bed, you shifted into your wolf form, revealing to Stephen that you were the wolf he considered to be his the whole time. He noted that you matched the wolf he knew, the one who he had considered his only friend (other than Wong, the Ancient One, and Mordo) before she had left. 

You turned to face the intruder, only to come face-to-face with your soulmate. 

“(Y/N)...” He whispered your name, but it seemed to be so much louder in the large room.

“ _What are you doing here?_ ” You growled, not expecting him to understand you. 

“ _What do you mean, what am I doing here? The Ancient One left me a note and-_ ” He stopped himself, realizing at the same time you did. He spoke Wolf. Just like you. “ _Should I be worried that I can understand a wolf?_ ” 

“ _Probably not._ ” You shrugged, and continued. “ _I’ve seen many soulmates who are different species, and they instantly learn the other’s language after hearing them speak it, when they realize that they are, in fact, soulmates._ ” 

“ _Why didn’t you tell me? The first time._ ” Stephen eventually closed the Eye, and you stood from your threatening stance, only to move to the rug on the ground. You huffed the wolf equivalent of a sigh, and circled around a few times, eventually lying down on the rug, settling in. 

“ _It doesn’t matter._ ” You looked away from Stephen, choosing to look at a wall instead. 

He cocked his head, and stepped closer to the big gray wolf on the ground in front of him. He sat next to you, his back to yours, but not touching you. “ _Could you please tell me why not?_ ” 

“ _You wouldn’t understand._ ” You huffed again, but closed your eyes at the sensation of his warmth next to you. 

“ _I can try. Please?_ ” He leaned into your line of sight, so you could see the sincerity on your face. 

“ _I had… a bad experience in a relationship. A very,_ very _long one. Though he wasn’t my soulmate… or you, I should say, I was happy. He was my everything. Then, I saw a side to him that I never knew was there. I didn’t want to realize how twisted he had become, so I just ignored the signs. He left me because I wouldn’t follow him into his madness. I became a shell of my former self, so I asked Mother to send me anywhere, so I could get away from here. She sent me to New York, to work in the hospital._ ” You looked up at him with watery eyes. “ _Then, I met you. My first day out of the Temple, and I met my soulmate. Although, I didn’t know it at the time. I saw your soulmark, but I didn’t have these powers yet._ ” You looked away, embarrassed. “ _You know the rest. Mostly, anyway._ ” 

Stephen gazed towards you, your explanation satisfactory. But one thing was nagging him at the back of his mind. After a few minutes of a contemplative silence, he spoke, but in english. “What was his name?” 

You froze at the question, afraid. You let out the breath you were holding, and for the first time in two years, spoke the name of the man who made you weak. 

“Kaecilius.” 

Stephen said nothing, he only nodded and rose from the floor. You looked up at him, tears slowly dripping down your face. 

He outstretched a shaky hand to you. Slowly, you shifted back into your human form and reached your hand up to his. When your palm touched his, fireworks erupted throughout your body, overruling all other senses. You finally understood what Mother had meant when she said that having a soulmate was the best thing to ever happen to you. 

“Wow.” Was all you had to say in response. 

“Wow indeed.” Stephen’s breathless baritone voice replied. 

“So this is what it’s like to have a soulmate.” You wished you had done this sooner. 

“It feels…” He searched for the words he needed. “It feels like nothing I’ve ever felt.” 

“ _Yeah. Agreed._ ” You admitted. 

“You don’t have to stay down here, you know.” Stephen let go of your hand, leaving you feeling cold and empty. He slowly started to walk towards the entrance of your room, your eyes following his every move. 

“But, what about Kaecil-” 

“He won’t be a problem anymore.” Stephen dismissed your concern. “I had a little… _chat_ with him. It ended up with him returning to the Dark Dimension and Dormammu promising to never come back. He did say to tell you he said ‘Hi’.” 

For the first time in over two years you broke out into laughter. Stephen smiled at you, slightly laughing with you. 

“Really?” You asked, wiping a tear from your eye. 

“I even got Wong to laugh.” You were solemn faced. Stephen was confused, he thought you would be surprised. Then, your face twisted into a smile that radiated happiness and surprise, and oh lord Stephen wanted to see you like that way more often. 

“Well then, I guess I do have nothing to worry about.” You shook your head, looking down, the grin still on your face, and then lifted your head back up to gaze at Stephen. You walked towards him, and threaded your hand fingers through his as you tugged him back through the door, up the staircase, and through Mother’s room, that blinding smile still on your face, and Stephen still grinning like an idiot. 

For the first time in days, the sun hit your skin, and you were practically glowing with joy and contentment, not that you noticed. But Stephen did. He watched as the people of Kamar-Taj greeted you in disbelief, having not seen you for over half a year. He watched as you approached Wong, and you embraced like old friends. He watched as you walked back to him at the end of the day, exhausted but satisfied. 

He saw the tired grin on your face, and knew that it was the right decision to have you follow him back out into the world. He didn’t need to see through the Eye of Agamotto to see that. He could see the way the sparkle had returned to your eyes, the way you shined with fulfillment. 

Which was why, with all the light you gave off, he couldn’t see two _very_ different shadows merging into something even more dark, even more evil.


	7. A Kidnapping? GREAT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All (literally all, at least the ones currently (as of 2020-2021) in the MCU) of the Avengers (even if they aren't technically part of the Initiative) at least get a nod here, and they try to capture you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some things happen, um...  
> \- The Avengers get referenced at least, although most are in it, even if it is for like 2 chapters because I needed a plot, but... here we are...  
> \- Peter Parker is adorable and a cinnamon roll, especially Tom Holland's version.  
> \- A Sherlock reference happens (not really a reference because it isn't subtle AT ALL).

“Why won’t he just DIE!” A dark-skinned man screamed at the computer screen showing camera footage of a street in Hong Kong, dated about a year ago. It played on a continuous loop. A voice crackled through the speakers next to the monitor. 

_ “You can’t fight the inevitable. Isn’t it beautiful? A world beyond time. Beyond death.” A person with purple scales around his eyes stood with two others like him, facing three people who looked… mostly normal, if it wasn’t for the robes, the weird artifacts, and the red cloak fluttering in the breeze, when there was no breeze in the first place. The man with the cloak was laying on the ground between his two companions, while the three with scaly-eyes stood tall and proud.  _

_ “Beyond time…” The red-cloaked man looked up at the devastation that was paused as it was pouring out of a building at the end of the street. Everything except the six figures appeared to be stopped in time. The man quickly got up and flew into the purple clouds.  _

_ At the same time, a man who was indistinguishable from the one who was flying into the clouds floated down behind the scaly-eyed people. The two regular men who were left behind stared at the man, prompting the middle scaly-eyed man to look back at him.  _

_ “What have you done?” He asked the cloaked man.  _

_ “I made a bargain.” As he says that, the scales around the three men’s eyes started to glow, along with a red mark appearing on their foreheads. The three started to fade away into dust, as one started to float.  _

_ “What is this?” The main man said.  _

_ The red-cloaked man sucked in a quick breath. “Well, it’s, uh… it’s everything you ever wanted. Eternal life as part of the One. You’re not going to like it.” As he said it, the three of them started to float up into the cloud that seemed to retract itself into the giant mansion-like building it was coming from.  _

The man slammed his hands down on the desk, and the loop started again. 

Suddenly, the screen started glitching out. It gave way to static as the dark-skinned man just stared at the monitor with confusion. A voice broke through the static. 

“Baron Karl Amadeus Mordo, don’t you agree that the Doctor needs to pay his price?” It sounded vaguely familiar, but he didn’t know who it was. How would they know who he was? Unless… The voice continued. “That he needs to suffer the consequences?” 

“And how would someone like you bring about the downfall of a master of the Mystical Arts?” Baron Mordo responded out loud. 

“By using another master who can take away a sorcerer’s magic. We may not be actively trying to take the good Doctor down, but he is certainly in the way of our plans. We need him…” The voice paused for a moment, as if deliberating what to say next. “Gone. We believe that you can help us with this.” 

Mordo smiled at the static on his screen. “I may be able to help you. However, before we make anything…  _ official _ , I am quite curious… What is your name and goal?” 

“Our goal is to take our experiment back. Long ago, one of our agents decided to steal it, and drop it on the doorstep of your sacred temple. He was immediately terminated upon hearing the news.” 

Mordo paused.  _ That sounds like… But she wouldn’t have anything to do with him.  _ “What does this have to do with Strange?” 

“Our experiment happened to be spotted with him recently. It seems they are… together. We have been looking for CH-58 for over 35 years.”  _ Well, I guess she does have something to do with him.  _

“And what is your name?” Mordo crossed his arms, he wasn’t going up against the new Sorcerer Supreme without that, at least. 

“We are…” Mordo’s screen turned black, and a red octopus logo started flashing across it. “HYDRA.” 

~~~

Christine Palmer was walking to the hospital when someone grabbed her arm, pulling her towards the alley she happened to be passing by. A hand covered her mouth before she could scream, and she felt her captor’s body pressed against hers. She struggled as much as she could, but couldn’t get away. 

“I have a name for you. Someone we both want out of the way.” The voice was male, low in her ear. She still struggled, but Christine was curious now, and she waited to hear who he had in mind. “(Y/N) (Y/L/N).” 

Christine had stopped struggling by now, but a smile curled the corners of her mouth at the thought of driving Stephen and you apart. 

The man dropped his hand, and she stepped away and turned around, finding a man with the same type of robes as Stephen did almost a year ago when he came to her, bleeding, the smile still upon her lips. “What do you propose?” She asked. 

Mordo smiled and leaned to whisper in her ear. “Here’s what I want you to do…” 

After explaining his plan to the willing woman, she walked with a sinister smile to the hospital. Anyone passing her could easily see the way her eyes sparked like flames, but to the sorcerers in the crowd, they could tell it was the influence of another sorcerer. 

~~~

“And that concludes that part of the meeting. Now onto more important aspects.” A bald dark-skinned man said. He stood at the head of a long table, wearing a black trench coat and an eyepatch. Other people sat all around the table, doing all sorts of things. 

Iron Man, or Tony Stark, was watching a movie on his glasses, not caring about the entire thing. Every once in a while, he’d look up to make sure his protege was still there, because nobody (except Tony) knew Spider-Man’s identity. 

Captain America, or Steve Rogers, was patiently awaiting Fury’s directions, and keeping  _ some _ of the others in line. 

Black Widow, or Natasha Romanoff, was picking her nails with one of her throwing knives while staring around the room, making eye contact with every other person until they looked away from her. 

The Hulk, or Bruce Banner, was quietly paying attention to Fury, but almost asleep to the point his chin was slowly sliding down from where he placed it upon his fist earlier in the meeting. 

Hawkeye, or Clint Barton, was fiddling with an arrow, one of his favorites, while sitting next to Nat. 

Thor Odinson, the Norse god of thunder, was munching loudly on Pop Tarts next to his brother. 

Loki Odinson-Laufeyson, the Norse god of mischief, was quietly plotting the demise of over half the people in the room, starting with his obnoxious brother. The rest were left alone in his mind, because he held a healthy respect for Tony, Nat, and the Spider-Child. 

War Machine, or James “Rhodey” Rhodes, sat slumped over the table, snoring slightly. 

Spider-Man, or Peter Parker but only to Tony, was bouncing in his seat, although not as much as when the meeting first started. Three. Long. Boring. Hours. Ago. 

Scarlet Witch, or Wanda Maximoff, was very bored and sat using her magic to create wisps of red trailing over her palm, but not for anything other than the beauty. 

Quicksilver, or Pietro Maximoff, was jogging his leg  _ really _ fast, and after every couple of sentences, he would race around the room, but then be back in the exact same place he was before, the only evidence he left was a slight twitch, like a glitch, and the obvious tell-tale  _ whoosh _ of air. 

Vision, the android science child of Tony and Bruce, was holding Wanda’s free hand, and staring at the wisps she was creating. 

The Winter Soldier, or James “Bucky” Barnes, was sitting next to his best friend Steve and just staring around the table at everyone, being only comfortable with Steve and Spidey. 

Falcon, or Sam Wilson, was fiddling around with his drone, called Redwing, and was cooing to it softly, as some people (*cough* Bucky and Clint *cough*) gave him weird looks. 

The other Avengers (Captain Marvel, Ant-Man and the Wasp, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther, and Doctor Strange (although he's partly the reason for the meeting, so he wasn't contacted anyway))  were all busy, so they couldn’t be at the meeting, though they were contacted. 

“I have a mission for you.” Fury said. All the Avengers perked up, and the ones who were sleeping were poked and jabbed until woken up and paying attention. Fury clicked a button in his hand and a picture of you, with (h/c) hair, your tail and ears on full display for the world to see, standing next to a man they all knew. Doctor Strange. 

“This is the Wolf. We need to know what she’s up to. She seems to hang around Doctor Strange, so don’t tell him anything about this. It is  _ imperative _ we find out her powers, motives, and relationship to the Doctor.” 

“A trap? Something to capture her?” Wanda suggested. 

“Whoa, wait just a doggone minute!” Spider-Man exclaimed. “Should we even be  _ thinking _ about this? I mean, we  _ could _ just  _ ask _ Mr. Doctor Strange. I’m sure he’ll tell us everything we need to know. Especially if I talk to him.” 

“Are you sure that he’ll talk to you? He could just send you to another dimension.” Clint snorted at the thought, then sobered up, thinking of losing his favorite pranking partner. 

“Are you kidding? He likes me the most out of all of you. I’m his favorite, then it’s… You know what? I don’t actually know.” Under the mask, Peter was seriously contemplating the order of the Doctor’s favorite people in the Avengers. He knew that the former neurosurgeon had great respect for Nat and Wanda, and Tony was held in high regard, but other than them, he didn’t think that the doctor even really knew any of them, other than the Norse gods, but Peter knew that they didn’t really like each other. 

But to the Spider’s surprise, and dismay, when he finally came back to the real world, there was a plan already set, and he didn't like it one bit. He didn't agree with it at all, and refused to go through with it. 

The only other people that agreed with him were Bruce, who wouldn’t have been called anyway, Loki, who didn’t like to work for Fury, and surprisingly, Natasha, who thought that this was a fruitless mission, mainly because you were protected by  _ the  _ Doctor Strange. 

“That’s the end of that, then.” Fury said. He gave a nod to the people collected in the room, then with a  _ swish _ of his coat, he walked out, hands behind his back. 

The silence was deafening, until Clint spoke up. 

“Lets go catch us a Wolf.” 

~~~

The Avengers were waiting for you, a trap laid out. They found an ongoing threat, and made sure that Stephen knew about it, via Tony, who was one of the few who knew the Sorcerer Supreme’s number. They also knew that you were going to be there yourself, Tony having hacked into Stephen’s phone and having heard his following conversation with you. 

Not surprisingly, Nat, Bruce, Loki, and Peter weren’t there, having disagreed with the method to capture you. 

“Shh, here she comes.” Steve whispered into his earpiece, making the entire team go silent (for once in their lives). 

You ran up to the scene, a burning building. Usually you didn’t help with something that small, but you had recently heard of Spider-Man and the way he looked out for the little guy. You decided to help out with his duties. After all, Peter Parker needed his sleep.

“Perfect…” Tony watched eagerly as you sprinted into the burning apartment building, running right into their trap. 

As soon as you got inside, the door swinging shut behind you, you were surrounded by flames and smoke, and you immediately coughed, covering your nose with your shirt. 

“Hello?” You called out to anyone in the room, only to find that the flames were slowly dying. “What the…?” You let your shirt fall from your hand as the flames were extinguished to reveal a pristine white room. You looked around, only to find no way out. Suddenly, the walls started closing in on you, coming closer, until you could barely stand. Your wolf ears brushed the ceiling, and your tail had to curl around in order to fit. To put it simply, you couldn’t move an inch. 

If you focused, you could hear people outside. Probably your captors. Muffled voices filtered into your ears, becoming clearer as if you were tuning into a radio station. 

“We caught her.” “That was easy.” “Where do we take her now?” “Fury said to transport her to a max security prison.” “What do you think they’re going to do with her?” “I don’t know. Whatever they do, they better hope that Strange doesn’t have any sort of spells on her.” 

You smiled at the last sentence. Of course your soulmate had placed protective wards upon you, as well as the soulmate bond between you two allowed for communication, emotions, and pain. That last one wasn’t fun, for either of you. 

_ Hey Stephen.  _ You projected your thoughts to him, trying to catch his attention. 

**_What?_ ** You could hear the irritation in his voice. 

_ I’ve been captured. _ You sent a smile, knowing he could basically see anything you did through the bond. 

**_By who?_ ** He growled, sending a shiver down your spine. You somehow always secretly found it hot when he was jealous or protective over you. 

**_Well then, when you get back, we’ll have to test that out, won’t we?_ ** His voice was deeper, sexier in your head, but all you could think was _ Damn, he read my thoughts again _ . But was it really that bad, when you knew you had something to look forward to when you saw him again?

_ The Avengers caught me. I think they want to question me about the usual. _

He didn’t respond back for a moment, but when he did, he sounded worried.  **_I can’t get to you. No spell is working. I tried, but it only happens with you. I think they have something blocking magic._ **

With his words, your heart kicked up a notch. The entire time, you were calm, until he said that.  _ So I have to go along? _

**_You have to go along._ ** He affirmed.  **_Don’t worry, Love. I’ll look for any and all places that I can get you out. But until then, you’ll have to deal with them._ **

_ Careful Love, your Sherlock is showing.  _ You sent another smile, but this one was filled with sadness at the thought that you wouldn’t get to see him as soon as you had expected. 

**_Seriously? Stop bringing him up. He does NOT have better hair than me._ **

_ It was one time! _

**_You made a gateway to another dimension, pulled me through, and ran up to him, and messed with his hair. In the middle of a case. Everybody saw you, even the Detective Inspector… what was his name again? Gavin? Graham? Something Lestrade. You messed with the multiverse!_ **

_ It’s Greg. Greg Lestrade. But his hair was so soft! _

**_So’s mine._ **

_ But not as soft as his! _

**_Can we just… not right now?_ **

_ Umm, this is all I can do, I’m trapped, remember? _

**_Of course I remember, I have a photographic memory._ **

_ Yeah. Photographic, not eidetic.  _

**_Never mind that! Just… wait for the perfect moment, okay?_ **

_ I will.  _

After saying your ‘ _ goodbyes _ ’ and ‘ _ I love you’s _ ’, you settled down to wait, wait for the right time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help but make the cute Peter Parker we all know. Like seriously, I imagine all the Avengers being captivated by and protective over the Spider. Like, Nat, Loki, and Bucky would kill people for him, Tony, Stephen, and maybe Bruce would encourage his genius, Rhodey, Sam, and Vision would all protect him, Steve and Wanda would comfort him, and Pietro, Clint, and Thor would help him prank the others. It’s one big happy family. Anyway, my point is Peter (or Spider-Man, as everybody but Tony and Stephen only know him as (Tony knows because he found out, and Stephen knows because he’s Stephen. Like literally, what doesn’t he know?)) is cute, adorable, and everyone loves him.
> 
> Also, why is it basically canon that:  
> \- Thor loves Pop Tarts  
> \- Natasha intimidates people with her knives and glares (although that kinda IS canon, so...)  
> \- Clint loves to prank people  
> \- Sam calls his drone Redwing and he literally treats it like a child


	8. Stephen HATES Nick Fury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter is sent to talk Stephen into helping the Avengers. The sorcerer hates Fury with his soul.

“ _Another_ meeting? We just caught the Wolf chick, why do we need to come back?” Tony whined. A few weeks after they had caught you, which they all still thought that was too easy, Fury called them into another meeting. 

“I don’t know, but we all still need to go, Tony. You can’t skip out on this one again.” Steve had quickly caught up to him, verbally making sure that Tony was, in fact, going to the meeting. 

“Hey! That was only one time, and you know it!” Tony said. Steve just shrugged in response and walked faster. Of course, Tony being Tony, ran after him to make sure that he wasn’t the first into the room, just to show that he didn’t show up late to everything after they had made a bet earlier. 

As they all filed into the room and sat down (except for Thor and Loki, they had to go back to Asgard to celebrate some sort of holiday), all the Avengers could feel the tension between the two that were already seated at opposite ends of the table. Of course, Fury chose that moment to walk in. 

“Now, as you all know, y’all got your asses kicked when you fought the threat from Asgard. And as we don’t have the full team on Earth at the moment… You know what? We need Doctor Strange here as well. Can anyone get into contact with him?” Fury asked. 

After a few minutes, nobody spoke up. Fury sighed. 

“Spider-Man?” The arachnid looked up from his where he was playing Temple Run 2 on his phone to the head of SHIELD. “I know you have his number. Just call him and let’s get this over with.” 

“No.” The spider gave all his attention back to his game and ignored the shocked looks the others were giving him. 

“Just do it, we don’t have all day.” Fury was also surprised at the reaction he got, but then again, he didn’t know that the spider and Stephen were such good friends. So good, in fact, that Peter had gone to Stephen’s house the moment he got out of the meeting and told him everything. So good, that Peter now ranks Stephen as his number three parental figure (Tony is obviously number two, but the spider was ignoring him for even going along with the plan, and his Aunt May was _always_ number one). 

Spider-Man paused his game, (he was getting close to a new high score, he didn’t want to lose it,) and slowly looked up to Fury. Everyone could feel the anger rolling off of him. He stood up, walked over to the intimidating man, and held his phone out for him to see. Fury was confused, but looked anyway. He could only see four saved contacts, _Awesome Aunt_ , _Guy In The Chair_ , _Girlfriend_ , and _IronDad_. 

“Don’t ask me to contact him for you. I _don’t_ have his number.” Peter growled. At this point, everyone was either scared, proud, or a mixture of the two. “I’m going to go to his house, and get him to come. Don’t bother to follow me.” With that, he stalked out of the room, making everyone let out a collective sigh. 

“Y’know, I originally thought he was a sweet, pure, innocent cinnamon roll. But right there, I actually thought he was going to kill him.” Tony whispered loudly to Bruce, who was next to him. 

~~~

“Hi, Mr. Doctor Strange.” Peter, in his civilian clothes, greeted the sorcerer as he opened the door. 

With a stiff nod, Stephen turned and walked into the sanctum, practically ignoring Peter, though he left the door open. 

“Look, I know you’re angry with the Avengers right now, but Fury said-”

“I don’t give a damn what Fury says. I’m not going.” Stephen stopped and turned so fast, Peter thought he might have had whiplash. 

“Okay. And that’s fine.” Peter closed the door behind him, and walked up to the former neurosurgeon. 

“...But?” Stephen prompted. 

“But what?” Peter replied

“You always have something to say. You never leave anything that short.” 

“Is that right?”

“Obviously. It’s what you do. How you are. But you still can’t convince me to go.”

“I’m not trying to convince you to go. I’m simply asking.” 

Stephen stood in silence for a few minutes, contemplating. After a moment, he asked the one question that’s been on his mind since they took you. 

“Do they know who she is to me?” 

Peter stared straight into his eyes. Without an ounce of doubt, he replied, “No.” 

Stephen closed his eyes and nodded slowly, making up his mind. 

“I’ll go.”

Peter sighed, the hard part was over. “Great, let’s-”

“But,” Strange interrupted, “if anyone does anything, and I mean _anything at all_ to make me even _think_ of banishing anyone and everyone to the Dark Dimension, I won’t even hesitate.” 

“That’s fine. I understand.” 

“Good. Let’s go.” With that, Stephen waited until Peter was back in his Spider-Man suit, and conjured a gateway into the meeting room. 

As Spider-Man and Doctor Strange walked into the room, Stephen turned to Fury and full-on _snarled_. He spun away, walked to the back of the room, and leaned against the wall. 

Fury turned to Wanda and nodded his head. The Scarlet Witch closed her eyes, and focused. 

“He feels… anger… loneliness… heartbreak… pain… and sadness.” She said, opening her eyes again. 

“Why?” Steve asked, only glancing at Stephen. 

“Maybe because I want to bash in all your skulls for kidnapping and torturing…” Stephen trailed off, clenching his fist, “someone close to me.”

“Relax, Strange. She’s safe.” Fury dismissed his anger. 

Stephen scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Oh, stop lying. You may lie about a lot of things, but this is one of the few I actually care enough to call you out on. I know that you are hurting an innocent woman.” 

“He’s not-” Tony tried to say. 

“I’m not hurting her. Besides, she’s hardly innocent.” Fury interrupted. 

“Sure, she’s dangerous.” Stephen spat sarcastically, pushing away from the wall to stand on his own. “She was out in the normal world for a year to gather information on me while saving lives in a hospital. After that, she went back into hiding for another year. Then, she’s been out for maybe one more year, and you capture her and start torturing-”

“I’m not torturing her!” Fury interrupted again. 

“That’s not what she says! YOU CAN’T _FEEL_ HER PAIN LIKE I CAN!” Stephen roared. Fury blinked rapidly, trying to handle the new information. At that point, everyone except for Peter was confused. 

“Look,” Stephen sighed and ran a hand down his face, “I’m only here out of respect for Spider-Man. Don’t worry, I won’t kill you for torturing my girlfriend. I know about your little threat, so if you want my _advice_ , I’m here. However, if you want my _help_ , give me my soulmate back.” The doctor leaned back against the wall, tired after his outburst. 

Fury decided not to acknowledge his last comment. “As I was saying earlier, you all got your asses kicked. We need to find some way to take this threat down. It’s from Asgard. We need to do something about it before it tries to take over the world or some shit like that.” 

From the table seating the Avengers, Stephen heard a cough and someone say something that suspiciously sounded like “Loki”. 

“Now, Thor, Loki, and the Guardians are all offworld, so we don’t have any godly help or extra info on this.” Steve explained. 

Everyone started to bicker and argue, except Stephen, Peter, and surprisingly, Natasha. Suddenly, the former neurosurgeon started to chuckle, though it quickly escalated into full-blown laughter as everyone fell silent, staring at him. 

“What’s so funny, Wizard?” Tony asked Stephen, slightly worried for his sanity. But only slightly. 

As he calmed down, he explained. “What Captain Rogers said earlier. I might be able to give you more knowledge, and I know _someone_ ” he glared at Fury “who could give you some ‘godly help’ as he so eloquently put it.” 

“How? Like Steve said, Thor, Loki, and the Guardians aren’t here. They’re the only gods who will help us. So unless you’re carrying a god in your pocket… Are you?” Clint asked. Natasha smacked the back of his head with the palm of her hand. “Ow! What? He’s a magician. You never know what’s up their sleeves… or in their pockets.”

“NO!!! No, no, no, no, NO! We are _not_ pulling her out! She is extremely dangerous!” Fury shouted. 

Stephen scoffed. “She isn’t dangerous while I’m around, if at all.” 

Everyone, including Spider-Man this time, was confused on who they were talking about. 

“So do you want my help? Or are you going to settle for my advice?” Stephen asked. 

Everyone except Fury exclaimed “Help. We want your help.” 

However, Fury had different ideas. “I’m not bringing her out. I’ll take your advice.” 

Stephen smirked. He had them right where he wanted them. “Heed my advice… You need my help. You won’t survive ten minutes without me. And I’ll _only_ help if you release her.” 

Fury sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as everyone at the table stared between him and the Sorcerer Supreme. 

“Fine.” Fury finally agreed. 

“So… who’s extremely dangerous ass are we releasing?” Tony asked. 

“Strange’s soulmate, apparently.” Fury said. 

“The only Asgardian on Earth right now.” Stephen murmured, thinking of you. 

~~~

Stephen and Fury were the only people left in the room after the meeting. 

“You will be held responsible for _any_ and _all_ wrong moves she makes.” Fury threatened. 

Stephen shrugged nonchalantly. “Fine by me.” He leaned forward, making his own threat. “Because she _won’t_ . And if you even _think_ of threatening her or me again, I may just have to remind you of who I exactly am.”

Fury gulped, and although he wouldn’t tell anyone that, he was scared for his life. “She stays attached to your hip or she won’t go.” 

With that, he turned and quickly strode out of the room, leaving Stephen chuckling behind him. That was exactly what he had planned anyways.


	9. The Wolf Is Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People are surprised. You threaten almost everybody in the room. Stephen agrees with you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the chapter where the violence gets really bad, umm... I'll make sure you can skip around it, it's literally one paragraph... But it's a description of torture. If you don't want to read, bolded words are around the paragraph, so read until the bolds, then skip to the next ones.

A few days after the meeting, you were moved into the facility, and kept in a muzzle and chains. Your tail and ears had a tendency to whip around and smack people, so the guards kept a safe distance away. 

As you were walked into a room, filled with the Avengers, Fury, and-  _ Stephen _ . Stephen was here! He came, just like he said he would. You let him glimpse into your mind, let him look at all the ways you were going to aid in everyone in the room’s  _ untimely _ deaths. Fury, of course, had the most long and torturous death out of all of them. Steve was next. Stephen, Peter, Natasha, and Bruce weren’t included in your imaginary homicide spree for multiple reasons, many of them being  _ they didn’t torture you or aid in your capture _ . 

You weren’t struggling, only calmly plotting the deaths of all the Avengers, plus Fury. You didn’t really have the energy, anyway. All the pain you went through was nothing compared to how you were feeling now, weeks without your soulmate’s touch. 

“Wanda. Read her.” Fury commanded the red-haired girl. She closed her eyes, and you could feel her trying to get into your mind, but luckily, you always had an anti-mind reading spell, from your days training with Mother. The witch may not have been able to read your mind, but she could read your emotions. 

“I only feel… calm.” Wanda said, opening her eyes. 

Stephen, who was actually reading your mind, started to chuckle at the entirely wrong evaluation of your mood. 

When asked why by Clint, he responded “She’s planning everyone’s demise. Except the Spider’s, Nat’s, Bruce’s, and mine, of course.” You smiled through your muzzle at Stephen, and he grinned back. 

“Well, I guess we aren’t using her.” Tony said. After a minute of silence, he spoke again. “Strictly out of curiosity, how does Fury die?” 

“Flaying alive.” When Stephen said this with a smirk, almost everyone in the room paled significantly. Of course, nobody wanted to hear that, but Tony had to go and ask him to elaborate. 

**Trigger Warning: Descriptions of torture and death.**

“Basically skinning him alive. Flaying is a very ancient method of execution. First, she would strip his clothes and secure his arms and legs to ensure there was no movement. Then, she’d slash his skin with a sharp knife and peel it away from the muscles. Obviously, she would flay his face first to cause maximum suffering, because he’d still be conscious. If she wished, she could start boiling him first for a few minutes to make the skin softer and easier to tear away.” He said the last comment to you, letting you know what he would have done differently. “The procedure leaves not only muscles but also nerves exposed. It’s agonizing, but leaves the body vulnerable. So if the shock of pain didn’t kill him, the blood loss, hypothermia, or even infection would.” 

**Trigger Warning over.**

Everyone seemed to be extra wary of you after that. Especially when Stephen tried to unlock you from your chains. When Steve put an arm out to stop him, the former neurosurgeon growled and stared him down until his arm fell back to his side. 

The others tried to plead with him not to unlock you, but it was like he just tuned them out (which he did) and ignored them (which he also did). 

As he was unlocking you, you heard Wanda speaking. You listened in on what she was saying. “... Anger… fear… but for her… none for himself.” 

After a minute, you were finally free of the chains, and he tore the muzzle off as you practically fell into your soulmate’s arms, finally getting the relief and skin on skin contact with him you needed. You could feel all of your pain slowly go away, and when you looked up at Stephen, you both smiled at each other. 

You shifted into your wolf form, and Stephen’s cloak floated from his shoulders and onto you, turning into a red bandana around your neck. You rubbed your face against his pantleg as he crouched down to see you fully. He held your head in his hands and he was grinning from ear to ear as you nuzzled him. 

Spider-Man was the first to get over his shock, and slowly approached you two. He held out his hand as Stephen let you go, letting you make a decision about who to trust in the room. You looked at his outstretched hand, and you suddenly jumped onto him, bowling him over. Everyone who wasn’t frozen became statues. You didn’t growl, or bark, but simply stared at the giant white lenses under you. 

“ _ I accept you as a part of my family. You are able to come to me anytime, and I will not attack/maim/maul you. _ ” You growled at him. You turned to Stephen, looking to him to translate. He had a dumbfounded look on his face. He shook his head, and grinned again. 

“She said, and I quote, ‘I accept you as a part of my family. You are able to come to me anytime, and I will not attack/maim/maul you.’ Do you know what this means?” Stephen said breathlessly. 

“Umm… no?” The Spiderling replied. You got off of him, and nudged him to his feet. 

“It means that she’ll protect you as best as she can if you’re near her. This is amazing!” Stephen started to pace back and forth, mumbling to himself. “The last person she accepted into her family was…” He trailed off, looking up as the realization hit him. 

“Who?” Nat asked. She was silent the entire time, only just then finding her voice. 

“Me.” Stephen replied. 

“Who’s all in her family?” Tony asked, already worried for his SpiderSon. 

“There was the Ancient One, who died, then Wong, who is still at the Sanctum, Mordo, who she renounced because he turned on a dark path, Kaecilius, who will never be seen again, and then me, not only because I’m her soulmate, and now Pe- I mean, Spider-Man.” Stephen caught his mistake, and fixed it quickly. 

“So this means…?” Tony prompted. 

“That Spider-Man will be treated like a son.” 

Peter gulped and looked back at you, only to find you grinning up at him. You nuzzled into his leg, and a smile broke out under his mask. He liked you already. 

~~~

“Why can’t I help?” You called out frustratedly, watching the action of the Avengers fighting the Asgardian threat. 

“Because you could turn on us at any moment.” Tony immediately replied. 

“UGH.” You huffed and sat down on the sidewalk, legs stretched out into the road. Not ten seconds later, Stephen came and sat by your side, and put his arm around you, holding you close. 

After an entire hour of watching the Avengers get thrown around, you decided to at least help a bit. You stood from your spot next to Stephen and looked over to Peter, who was about to get thrown into a wall. With no words said, you ran into a gateway that Stephen conjured for you, shifting into your wolf form, and while the Spider was flying through the air, about to hit a building, you sailed through the gateway, caught him, and landed through another, right back to where you were. You safely lowered him to the ground, and shifted back into your human form, your face etched with worry. 

“I’m okay, I’m okay” Peter insisted. As he went to sit up, he hissed and held his side, where it was obvious that a rib or two was broken. “No I’m not, no I’m not.” With your help, he moved back over to where Stephen was sitting, and you laid him across your laps, his torso in yours, and his legs in Stephen’s. You muttered a spell under your breath, and watched as Peter’s rough, frantic breathing turned soft and even. He wasn’t asleep, oh no. He was healing. With your magic and his enhanced healing factor, he was right as rain within ten minutes. 

“Thanks, (Y/N).” He said as he sprung out of your laps and back into battle. 

You watched for another half an hour before you got bored and laid your head in Stephen’s lap, watching them all fight. 

About ten minutes later, You could hear Pietro saying something along the lines of “Why isn’t Strange fighting?”, or something like that. 

Stephen took it upon himself to reply. “I need to keep an eye on (Y/N), since you’re all so convinced she’ll murder you in your sleep.” 

“But you could still fight.” The Sokovian speedster retorted. 

“If I fight, (Y/N) fights.” Stephen stuck up for you. 

Reluctantly, after a few more minutes of getting their asses kicked, they gave you the okay. 

You smirked, and nodded up to Stephen, and jumped out of his lap. You walked towards the creature, cracking your knuckles and smirking. You haven’t had a good fight in a while.  _ This should be fun.  _

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Stephen making gateways to all the Avengers, pulling them out of the area and setting them on the sidelines. You could hear almost all of them either saying “What?” or “Why?” 

You cracked your neck, making you seem even more intimidating than you already were. When the creature realized that all the annoying little gnats were gone, it focused on you, walking down the street towards it. 

You stop halfway there, and hold your hands out in front of you. It roars, and starts rushing towards you. You knew the Avengers were all watching to see what you would do. So you did the only thing you knew with all your heart how to do. The Mystical Arts. Considering you were abandoned on the doorstep of Kamar-Taj, raised and trained by the Ancient One, and training for over twenty years every single day, you thought you were a decent sorcerer. 

Other sorcerers would say that you were the best in their generation. Stephen himself knew you were better than him, mainly because you had more experience. 

Quickly moving your hands through the air, a trail of sparks following your fingertips, you cast a spell. The creature froze and started shrinking, down to the size where it could fit in the palm of your (s/c) hand. Then it was able to move again. You rapidly cast another spell, and it was entrapped in a solid glass jar. 

You picked the jar up and turned towards the Avengers. They all had different looks upon their faces. Everybody except Stephen had some degree of shock, and Stephen was just smiling, radiating pride. Peter came up to you and tapped on the jar, making the creature inside wobble around and roar, only it sounded more like a cute little growl. 

“Well?” You prompted the team. They all looked from you to the jar that you had given to Peter. Suddenly he dropped the jar. You did nothing to stop it’s fall. When it crashed against the ground, you simply looked at it. The jar was unbroken. When you picked it up, it was also unscratched. You gave it back to Peter with a wink, and walked towards Stephen. 

“How was I?” You asked him with a grin. 

“Amazing, as always.” He smiled as you both walked away, leaving the Avengers to gawk at either the fact that you beat something in less than five minutes that kicked their asses more than once, or the fact that you knew magic and could have gotten out of your chains and had them all dead within the snap of your fingers.


	10. "You're My Father? Really? You?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You find out who your father is, I was originally going to do more with it, then I lost motivation and finished the book at 11 chapters instead of 17.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really short chapter... It's the second to last one.

“Greetings, SHIELD brothers and sisters!” 

“Oh great, Thor’s back!”

“Hey, Thor!”

“Hi Mr. Thor, Mr. Loki!”

Thor and Loki were making their way through the Avengers Compound, Thor was greeting everyone he came across while Loki was deciding who he was going to kill first and how. As they came across the meeting room, everyone was already assembled, waiting to welcome the gods to their second home. 

“We have heard of this threat from our home and thought to come back quickly so we can help!” Thor boomed as he sat down.

“Umm… About that…” Steve looked to the side as he brought the small creature in the jar to the table, placing it in front of the gods.

Loki stared around the table, watching everyone. He didn’t know who did this, but whoever it was, they were certainly skilled and powerful in magic. Thor leaned down in his chair and did the same thing Peter did when he first saw it. He tapped the glass.

“Who did this?” Loki was genuinely curious. He wanted to know who could possibly be skilled enough to do this. 

For a couple of moments, nobody said anything. Then, Tony spoke. 

“Strange’s wolf did it.” He said.

“Strange’s… Wolf?” Loki repeated. 

“Mr. Doctor Strange’s soulmate, yeah. She’s awesome. She can turn into a wolf. They mostly keep to themselves at the Sanctum. Oh and apparently, I was adopted by her!” Spider-Man explained. 

Loki looked at Spider-Man at that last remark, wondering who would _dare_ adopt his little Spider. 

“We will go see this ‘wolf’ that you speak of!” Thor shouted. It wasn’t really a shout, more of that he talked _really loudly_. 

Loki was already rising out of his chair gracefully when Thor started to get up. Together, they left the room, leaving the Avengers in confusion. They strode out of the building, and Loki teleported them both to 177A Bleeker Street. Of course, he tried to teleport inside, but he couldn’t, and ended up on the doorstep. 

As Thor knocked on the door, the gods steeled themselves for the sudden teleportation they knew was going to come. But, to their surprise, the door opened normally, although there was no one to open it. They relaxed once they stepped inside, and the door swung closed behind them. 

Suddenly, without warning, they were teleported to another room. After Thor’s stumbling about and Loki’s checking of surroundings, they noticed the sorcerer in the chair in front of them.

“What do you want?” Stephen asked the duo, not unkindly. 

Loki quietly stepped forward. “We have heard of a… ‘Wolf’ defeating the creature from our home.” 

“Yes, she did.” Stephen nodded in affirmation. “Considering she’s Asgardian as well.” 

“What?” Thor thundered.

Stephen winced at the volume the God of Thunder used. “Allow me.” He stood up soundlessly, and set his arms in front of him. Using a circle like motion with one hand, and the other set in place, he opened a gateway. He let his arms fall back to his sides, and gave a sharp whistle. 

You came bounding through the ring of orange sparks, in your wolf form, and it closed as you settled yourself down next to your soulmate on the floor.

“This is (Y/N).” Stephen gestured to you, then sat down again in the chair. 

Thor blinked a few times, then gave a short laugh. “This little creature doesn’t seem so threatening! How could _she_ have taken down the creature?” 

In an instant, you bowled him over onto his back, and had your teeth poised at his throat to kill. You didn’t like people (or gods (or anything, for that matter)) underestimating you. You would have killed him right then and there, god or not, but you didn’t want to help clean his blood off the floor later. You backed away, growling, and resumed your position on the floor next to Stephen. 

Thor got up, and stared at you like you suddenly grew three heads (although he might have been used to that, who knows, you’ve never been to Asgard (you thought)). Loki smirked while you licked your paw daintily and brushed it over your head. 

“I can see a little now.” Thor said. After a moment, Stephen brushed his hand over your head. 

“Go on.” Stephen nodded towards the gods who were (still) staring at you. 

You shifted into your true form, and draped yourself elegantly across Stephen’s lap, his hand slowly petting your ears as the gods marvelled at your soulmark and your grace. 

However, Loki was staring at you like he’d seen a ghost. Thor noticed. 

“Is everything alright Brother?”

“Child, do you have a surname?” Loki asked you, not even glancing toward his adopted brother.

“(Y/L/N). Why?” You answered. 

_(Y/L/N)? No, it couldn’t be. I remember her. If I remember correctly, (M/N) was her name. She must have had a child._ This _child._

Unaware of the turmoil his brother’s mind was in, Thor asked him another question. 

“Loki, why do you ask this?”

“I think…” Loki rasped. He cleared his throat. “She’s mine. I think her true surname is Lokidottir.

Surprisingly, you didn’t look all that shocked. It might have had something to do with Stephen thinking too loud about it.


	11. Again, With The Kidnapping?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get kidnapped again, although Stephen gets captured with you this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter skips around quite a bit, just a warning. This is also the last chapter, because I didn’t really have the motivation to write this anymore. Plus, I know that I’m a terrible writer, and that I’ve probably disgusted you all with how I skip around and don’t put any dimension or thought into characters.

“Are you sure this will work? We don’t want either of them to see it before it’s done.” 

“Yes, we are sure. They’ll be too wrapped up in each other to notice us.” 

“If you are sure.”

“We are.”

“Then on your head so be it.” 

The HYDRA agents moved into position, waiting for you and your soulmate to walk right into their trap. Mordo sat with the leader of this particular set of agents, discussing the plan.

“Should we keep them together? We don’t want the Sickness to take hold of them.” 

“I only want Strange to know I have beaten him. For that, I wish to see him in person. Then you can do with him as you please.”

“Then we will not start our plan until after you have finished with the Doctor.”

“Good. Now, we wait.” 

~~~

“What do you think happened to me?” You asked your soulmate as you were both walking down a deserted street in the middle of the night.

“A lot of things.” Stephen replied, holding your hand shakily in his.

“Like what?” You stopped and turned to face him, pulling him back with your linked hands. 

He sighed. “Loki didn’t know you existed, he left too early to tell, then your mother didn’t want you, so she gave you up to someone who was an undercover HYDRA agent, and from there, they started experimenting on you. Then, before any experiment could actually be completed enough to show real progress or even results, one of the scientists broke you out and set you on the doorstep of Kamar-Taj. From there, you know the rest.” 

“Yes, I believe I do.”

“Does that mean that you’ll stop asking me pointless questions?” 

“Pointless? I wouldn’t say they’re...” You trailed off, staring deep into the shadows of a side alley, sensing something slightly off. 

“What? What’s wrong?” Stephen turned to the direction you were facing, and that’s when it all came crashing together. From behind, someone shot a tranquilizer into your neck, and you fell immediately. Stephen whipped back around to face you, but before he could catch you from falling, another dart sank into his neck and he was down as well. 

The last thing he thought before succumbing to the forceful arms of darkness was, _Of course, t_ _ he  _ **_one_ ** _ day I leave the Cloak of Levitation behind…  _

~~~

The first thing you noticed when you awoke was that there were magical bindings tying your wrists behind your back, as well as the almost painful tightness of your muscles signifying that the position you were currently in was one that you have been in for many,  _ many _ hours. When you opened your eyes to look around, you noticed Stephen beside you, also with magical handcuffs, and his face was downcast. Though he was awake, and probably had been for a while, he seemed very dejected.

You nudged his side with your elbow, effectively getting his attention. He smiled sadly, and looked back down at his lap. 

“Hey.” You ducked your head to find his eyes, and caught his attention again, and you smiled. He grinned again. 

“Hi.” He replied softly. 

“At least we’re together, right?” You whispered. 

“That’s not a good thing in this case.” He dropped his grin, and looked straight at you. 

“Why’s that bad?”

“You’ll see.” 

You didn’t have time to contemplate his answer, because both of your attentions were pulled to the door being shoved open. You ran your gaze over the newcomer’s clothes, and made immediate conclusions. 

_ We were kidnapped by HYDRA. _ You pushed the thought to Stephen, but got no reaction. After a few minutes, you were becoming worried because  _ what if they had taken that from you too _ , but you got a reply. 

**_Don’t react, but Mordo came in here earlier to boast that he had bested both you and I. He was working with HYDRA to kidnap us. He just wanted to see me, so that means…_ **

Your eyes imperceptibly widened, and you both realized at the same time that HYDRA wanted you in return. 

The now obvious agent strolled closer to the two of you, his gun pointed lazily in Stephen’s direction. 

“The boss would like to see you now.” The agent said, and gestured for you to get up. The agent led you out of the room, and to a different room, where another man sat, relaxing back in his chair as if he didn’t have a care in the world. 

After a minute of silence, the man leaned forward in his chair to scrutinize you carefully, his eyes flicking up and down your body, lingering in places where no decent man would ever think of lingering. 

You raised an eyebrow, challenging him. He lifted an eyebrow right back, daring you to say something when he was obviously in charge. You shrugged and let him continue doing whatever he was doing. 

After an hour of staring each other down, you were waved away with a “Have her prepped for the Soldier training. We start tonight.”

~~~

“Are you okay?” Stephen asked you after you were thrown back into your shared cell. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’ll take more than that to break me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. When have I ever  _ not _ been sure?”

“Actually-” 

“Don’t. Just don’t.” During your little debate, Stephen moved towards you, his hands somehow free. As you both walked backwards, his arms came up to box you in when your back hit the wall. He starts leaning in, his eyes darkened with some emotion you couldn’t place at the moment. 

“What are you doing?” You whispered when there was only an inch between your lips, his breath fanning out across your face. 

“What do you think I’m doing?” His nose touched yours, rubbing against it slightly. 

“I think you’re going to kiss me.”

“If I was, what would you do about it?”

You smiled and leaned in that last inch, pressing your lips together. 

Soon, the kiss was over, and you were both panting for breath, your eyes sparkling. 

“What do you say we get out of here?”

“How?”

He held up his sling ring. “They never searched me.  _ Mordo  _ didn’t search me. Let’s go get dinner, then go back to the Sanctum.”

“What about, we get dinner with a little Spider, kick Fury’s ass into another dimension for that trap, drop that little Spider off, and then go back to the Sanctum? How does that sound?”

“Sounds good enough for me.”

With a wave of his hand, a gateway formed, and you both hopped through, leaving behind nothing but the “magic” cuffs that proved to be nothing to the Sorcerer Supreme and his soulmate. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the rushed ending, when I was originally writing this I had 6 more chapters planned out, but I lost motivation to write, so like the Loki being your father thing doesn't come into play, or many other things I had planned that I set up painstakingly throughout the other chapters, but hey, I was told it wasn't necessarily a bad ending, so... Yeah, that's the end of The Magic Between Them. Thanks for reading.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know how I did, mainly because I don't have a beta reader, it's literally just the trash that comes out of my head after I bounce most of it off of a friend.


End file.
